Through the Years
by Kirika-Hime
Summary: A collection of moments and events of Nate and Elena's small family and friends. From taking the first step to a more serious relationship to raising kids, life is a complex adventure. Post-game, some during or between U1:DF, U2:AT, and U3:DD.
1. Sick and Petting Zoo

**Sick –or – A Day Filled With Tissues, Sniffles, and Disney**

Nate groaned as he tossed a used tissue into the nearly overflowing bin next to his feet. He was completely clogged up, running a slight fever, and ached as if he had climbed everything he had climbed in his life at once. A small moan of unhappiness came from the left of him, followed by the unmistakable sound of someone trying to remove as much mucus from their nasal cavity. Nate looked down at his four-year-old daughter, Sophie, who also had the joy of suffering the common cold. Her dark hair was a mess and her favorite green pajamas where rumbled. She was wrapped up in her blue comforter along with the large quilt that was covering Nate from the waist down. Sophie's attention was completely focused on the old Disney movie that was currently on. Nate wished he could grab the book he had been reading last night, but it was a little difficult when had a three-year-old's arms wrapped around your waist. Plus Nate doubted that he would even be able to focus on his book properly.

"Daddy?" Sophie suddenly asked.

"What is it sweet-heart?"

"Why do we get sick?" Well, that was question he really wasn't expecting. He was thought it would be something along the lines of if she could make friends with wild animals like Snow White just did or when Elena was going to be home.

"Because…" he paused for a moment trying to think a quick and easy answer, "sometimes our bodies are telling us to take a break. Or maybe to take a little bit better care of ourselves."

"How come Alex isn't sick?" she asked, referring to her six-year-old brother.

"He got lucky."

"Oh. Did Mommy get lucky too?"

"Probably." He placed an arm around his daughter as she snuggled closer.

"I like this part" she whispered as the film cut to the seven dwarfs for the first time. Nate just smiled and pulled her a little closer and the quilt a little higher on himself as he placed his feet on the coffee table. "Daddy?"

"Yea?"

"Do you think I can make friends with the bunnies that eat up Mommy's plants?" he chuckled. There was the question he was expecting earlier.

* * *

><p>"Nate? Sophie?" Elena called out into the slightly quiet house. She heard what possibly sounded like one of the kid's movie. Taking off her coat, she headed towards the kitchen to put up some items she purchased at the grocery store. "Nate?" she had half expected to see her husband in the kitchen making something for Sophie in order to escape the never-ending run of Disney films. But the kitchen was empty, save for the dirty pot, skillet, and a few dishes and silverware. She wondered into the living room and instantly was smiling. Nate and Sophie were fast asleep on the couch. At some point during their day, Sophie had made herself and her father crowns, drawn pictures of herself with rabbits, and covered Nate in stickers. Elena pulled out her phone and took a picture. She took out the DVD and turned off the TV before placing the fallen quilt back on them.<p>

"Mm…Elena?" Nate murmured, making Elena jump a little.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Drake." Elena replied, "I have to tell ya, that pink sparkly sticker suits you perfectly."

"Oh man, is it three already?" Nate groaned, looking around for Alex.

"Nope, it's just a little after one. I was able to get off early today." She tucked back a lock of Sophie's hair, "How you feeling?"

"A bit better. Not as stuffed up at the moment, but I believe I won't be getting a number of Disney songs out of my head for a while."

"Aw…poor baby! Don't worry, one day she'll say she's too old of Disney movies."

"Can that day be tomorrow?" Elena laughed as Nate's face went from slightly miserable to a strong frown, "On second thought, I can live with Disney movies."

* * *

><p><strong>Petting Zoo – or – A Day With Sheep<strong>

"Look sweetie! A lamb! Let's go pet the lamb!" Elena said enthusiastically as she carried her two-year-old daughter over to the sheep. Nate was busy helping five-year-old Alex feed some of the goats.

"Where's Momma?" Alex asked as he looked around for her. Nate looked up and scanned the area for his wife and daughter.

"Good question champ. Let's go look for her." Nate replied, taking hold of Alex's hand. He was silently cursing himself for forgetting his wife's deep love of zoos, especially petting zoos. Nate had discovered this fact shortly after his son's first birthday. Elena had convinced him to do a family outing, just the three of them, to the zoo. The day had been filled with Elena dragging him all over the place and when they had reached the petting zoo… Nate gave a slight shudder. At the end of that day, he had just given up trying to following Elena and just sat on a bench, watching his wife carry their son from animal to animal. He remembered the big smile on both their faces. "Now if I were Mom, where would I be?"

"Looking at cute things?" Alex supplied, looking up at his father.

"Uh…" Nate looked around, he believed that any of the animals would fall under the "cute" category for Elena. He sighed as quickly grabbed the giant tote Elena called a purse before heading towards the middle of the enclosed area. It didn't take long to find the two; Sophie's laughter was possibly the loudest sound Nate or Elena had ever heard from any child. "Making friends?" Nate asked as he and Alex approached.

Elena turned her head and smiled at the two boys while Sophie was completely enthralled with the sheep in front of her. "Sorry. Should have told where we were headed, huh?" She stood up to take her purse from Nate as Alex went over to join Sophie. The two adults watched as Alex joined in the act of sticking his hands into the sheep's fleece.

"Don't worry too much about it. I rather try and hunt you down in here than the main attraction." Nate replied as he threw an arm across her shoulder, "Should've known that you would have brought Sophie over to the sheep though. Alex did like them better than the goats last time."

Elena just chuckled and gave her husband a small peck on the cheek.


	2. Return

**Return – or – Another Step Closer**

It had been a month since that unfortunate incident in Shambhala and just now the two of them were able to return state-side. Elena looked around the dusty apartment as Nate brought in their bags, insisting that she go ahead and take a seat and rest. Underneath the fine layer of dust were stacks of books on nearly all the free surfaces; notebooks, note pads, and loose sheets of paper surrounded the books. She was a little a surprised to see the couch reasonably free of clutter. She looked at the collection of books and notes with passive interest as placed herself on the sofa. Smiling as Nate hunted down clean sheets for the bed, Elena allowed herself to relax as the scent of the dust, old books and paper, and the light hint of whatever cologne Nate wore once in awhile filled her nose.

Elena let out slightly frustrated sigh. She had made a full recovery, but still tired out easily; she would get sore on the occasion. This meant that Nate was still treating her like some sort of fragile artifact. Sure, he still acted the same with her with the wise-cracks and such, but during her recovery in Tenzin's village she could see the panic in his eyes if started to do anything against doctor's orders. He was doing his best not to drive her crazy with the hovering, that much she could tell. She briefly wondered why on earth she agreed to move in with him. Probably to avoid Nate giving Chloe or Sully her phone number and her soon-to-be old address, who would check up on her constantly whenever Nate wasn't around. Or maybe the strong possibility that he would end up staying at her place more than hers.

"Bed's all set. Wanna go ahead and recover from jetlag or do you wanna have a bite to eat?" Nate asked as he plopped down on the couch next to her.

"Food sounds good… Do you have anything that can actually be cooked is the question." He gave out a nervous chuckle, looking slightly embarrassed, "How about this? Why don't you go out and get some food and I'll rest up a bit." She suggested as he pulled her close.

"You sure?" Nate asked, "We could always order delivery or take-out,"

"I'm pretty sure neither of us have any U.S. currency at the moment."

"Well, I could always use a card," he suggested, "Order carry-out instead."

Elena thought about it for a moment before snuggling closer and giving a light nod, "That sounds good. We can do the whole shopping thing later."

"Never thought I hear the day I hear a lady turn down the chance to go shopping."

She gave a playful shove, "Just order us some pizza."

He chuckled. "What do you want?"

"Anything that isn't vegetarian." She stifled a yawn, the long journey home starting to take its toll on her. "I don't care where or who it's from as long as it tastes good and I don't get food poisoning from it." Elena felt the lids of her eyes droop, the need to rest taking over as she listened to Nate's voice. She cuddled closer, deciding that Nate's chest was a wonderful pillow. She felt his thumb make small circles on her arm, his warmth and scent surrounding her as fell asleep. Elena smiled as she felt Nate kiss the top of her head before whispering the one phrase she was certain he would never say to anyone else.

"_I love you."_


	3. An Early Christmas

**Early Christmas Present – or – A New Home and A Little Surprise**

"Do you think we'll need another strand?" Elena yelled up to Nate. He looked down to see her with another box of coloured lights in her hands already.

"I think we'll be fine," he looked down at his watch, "but it's getting kind of late. I think we might want to call it quits and get some dinner." Elena nodded and put the box back in the bag and began searching the yard for any plastic or twist ties she may have missed. She looked up at their house they had purchased and moved into roughly four months ago, shortly after discovering she was a month pregnant.

For the both of them, the sudden news of her pregnancy had been a shock. Hell, Elena didn't even want to consider it at first when she realized she was two weeks late. Restocking toilet paper underneath the bathroom sink to find a box of tampons she hadn't touched for quite some time was not the way she wanted to find out. The panic attack that followed Elena telling Nate (more like showing Nate the tampon box and letting him quickly connect the dots) was actually pretty calm. They already had a pregnancy scare in their first year of marriage before Nate left to go after Iram of the Pillars. After a pregnancy test and a doctor's visit, they discovered that Elena was well into her first month.

Once their initial fears and nerves settled, the couple discovered that their nice, cozy apartment wouldn't have enough space for a growing child. So the hunt for a new place began, which Sully gladly helped with. In fact, Sully was the one who found the house. Not even a week into the house-hunt and he called them up, raving about a place he found in a suburb of Seattle. Good schools, nice town… Nate and Elena decided to give it a look, just to humor the old man. He hadn't been kidding. The school district had great track-record and reputation; the town had plenty of parks and was a quick drive and ferry ride away from Seattle.

And then they reached the house. A house with two-floors, four bedrooms, two and an half baths, and a basement with a large front and back yard. Barely a ten minute a walk away from a super market and pharmacy, a five minute walk from good-size park. And even better, they actually liked the colour. It was the first place that they both liked, and they hadn't looked inside yet. They spent what seemed like countless hours looked around and investigating every nook and cranny. It was everything they were looking for and seemed like to Nate and Elena that they found their dream home. It was almost too good to be true. In the end though, the only thing wrong with the house was that it needed a new water heater.

Three weeks later they moved in, leaving L.A. County for Washington State. It didn't take long to move everything in and paint the handful of rooms. The two settled in nicely and were glad everything had gone smoothly for a change.

"Alright! All done." Nate announced, climbing down the ladder to join Elena on the ground. She smiled as she looked at their handy work. With Christmas approaching, Elena had practically demanded that they decorate the house, inside and out. After-all, it was their first Christmas in their new home, they had to do something special and she always had fond memories of helping her parents decorating. She placed a hand over her steadily growing baby bump, hoping that their kid would have that. Nate tossed an arm over her shoulder and pulled her close.

"What ya think?" she asked, placing an arm around his waist.

"Perfectly tacky" he replied with his usual smart-ass tone. His comment earned him a punch to the side. "What! It's the candy canes!" he laughed.

"I happen to like my candy cane path, thank you!" she retorted, laughing as well.

"Well, I got to admit, it's a nice change." He gave her a kiss.

"Told ya it would be more fun decorating the house." Elena said with a large smile.

"Better then a tiny balcony."

"We still need a tree though."

"We'll get one before Sully and the others get here. Don't worry." They started to head back into the house when Elena let out a surprised squeak and her hands flew to her bump. Before Nate could even ask anything, Elena grabbed one of his hands and placed it just above her navel. He was about to say something when he felt it. It wasn't huge, but he felt all the same. He looked up from her belly to see the large smile on her face. He could feel himself matching her smile.

"He's kicking" she whispered.

He placed his other hand on her stomach before drawing her into a tight hug that Elena gladly returned. He started laughing, kissing her over and over again. No words could express the joy either of them felt. They headed inside, now eager for Sully and the others to get here so they could share the news.


	4. Vacation and Seoul

**Summer Vacation – or – Guessing Game**

Sophie was vaguely aware that the sun was out now. She felt around for the large circle alarm clock Grandpa had given her and when she finally laid her hand on it, looked at it. Eight thirty-five-ish. The first day of summer vacation and she slept in about an extra hour and an half. Sophie could already hear her parents moving about in the kitchen; Alex was probably still asleep. She was tempted to try and get some more sleep, but the need to pee was winning. She reluctantly rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom.

* * *

><p>"One of them is out of bed." Nate mused aloud as he heard the flushing of the toilet. "How much you wanna bet it's the thirteen year-old?"<p>

Elena gave him a light laugh in reply and handed him his coffee. "One of us will wake him up before ten."

"Mornin'" Sophie yawned as she headed into the kitchen, "Where's Snow?" she asked, referring to the family dog, a seven year old Japanese Spitz.

"Outside. Probably terrorizing squirrels." Nate replied, handing her a bowl for whatever sugary cereal she was going to eat this morning. "We'll let him in in a few. Want some more cornflakes with that sugar?" Sophie just stuck her tongue out at her father and took a seat at the table, picking her copy of _Watership Down_.

"So… where are we going this summer?" Sophie asked after awhile, looking up from her book.

"Come on, kiddo. You know the rules." Nate replied with a chuckle.

Sophie let out a slightly frustrated sigh, "Are we going overseas this summer?"

"Nope"

"East-coast?"

"Not this year"

"Mid-west, then?"

"Went to Texas last time"

"So we're staying on the west-coast this year. Okay…" Sophie set her book down, biting her lower lip as she thought of other 'yes-or-no' questions (a habit that she picked up from her mother). It was game that father and daughter played at the start of summer vacation. Nate and Elena would plan a big family trip for the summer, keeping the details of it under wraps. The kids could try and guess what the family was going to do and where they were going to go. Sure, they could ask where they were going, but in the form of 'yes-or-no' questions. "Are we going to visit Grandpa during the trip?" she asked.

"Defently" Nate's smile grew as he saw Sophie's face light up. Alex and Sophie always loved visiting Sully's place out in California.

"So~ … just California this year?" she asked excitedly.

"Nope!"

"Dang-it. Road trip." Nate and Elena just laughed.

* * *

><p>Alex was unpleasantly awoken by the sound of his parents laughing. He looked at the digital clock next to his bed, groaning that it was only a little after nine. Summer was for sleeping. Finals had almost killed him this year. He defently should have listened to Mom and studied throughout second semester versus cramming for a month. He felt something licking his hand, knowing exactly whose work was that. Alex looked down at Snow who let out a quick bark, wagging his tail. "I'm up, I'm up" he grumbled as he sat up.<p>

Pulling on some pants he headed downstairs to grab some food, Snow running ahead to find Sophie. "I have some news for you," Sophie said in place in a greeting as she picked up the dog, "I know _one_ of our destinations."

"What? You started without me?"

"I couldn't wait anymore" Sophie pouted.

"You're such a baby…" Alex mumbled, pouring himself a bowl of cereal.

"Am not!" she gave him a playful kick and Alex returned the gesture with a shove.

"So where are we headed?" he asked, not wanting to repeat questions.

"Grandpa's"

"So what we normally do for California then?"

"Yes and no" his mother replied. He gave her a confused look.

"Two words, big bro. Road trip" Sophie informed him. Alex groaned.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" Nate said as he placed his dirty dishes in the sink, "Makes a trip more interesting!"

"You're just saying that 'cause you hate flying and trains." Alex grumbled as he ate a spoonful of his breakfast.

"I do not hate flying. Or riding trains. I've just had a couple bad experiences here and there." Nate defended, "I hate cruise ships though."

"When are we going?" Alex asked, referring to the trip.

"Two weeks" Elena replied, "Should be enough time for you two hang out with your friends for a bit, do a couple of other things if you want."

"Is Snow coming too?" Sophie held up the dog in question awkwardly; he didn't seem to mind though, he seemed to know that he was the center attention now and was very happy with that.

Nate scratched Snow's ears, "Not this time. Chloe's going to be keeping an eye on him" Sophie let out a sigh of disappointment.

"So no national parks this time?" Alex asked, beginning the question game again.

"No" Elena replied, smiling, "And before either of you do anything else today, make sure to clean your rooms."

* * *

><p><strong>A Night in Seoul<strong>

Elena crawled into bed taking her spot next to Nate. It had been a long day of shooting in Seoul, traveling from site to site. She and Nate had agreed to do a mini-series on the Three Kingdoms of ancient Korea. Today they had covered some of Baekje, hitting some of the major tourist spots and getting some good shots of modern day Seoul. Tomorrow would mostly be museums.

"God, I'm tired" Nate complained, placing an arm around Elena's waist and pulling her close.

Elena laughed, "This made you tired?" he quirked in an eyebrow in question, "Fighting off mercenaries and pirates I can understand, but running around a city? Most of the time in a car?"

"Shaddup. You're tired too" Nate replied, his voice slightly muffled by the pillow his face was currently rested in. Elena laughed again, making him turn over to face her, "It's probably a combination of getting to where ever, setting up, trying to remember everything…. Plus what I think are advances from Rick."

"Advances? From Rick? _The sound guy_?" Elena giggled.

"I'm telling you. The man's following the more curved path than the straight" Nate said, shuddering as he remembered how the man seemed to get a little too close for comfort for a good portion of the day.

"I would think the fans coming up for autographs would have tired you out more" she said, "I was kind of surprised how many people actually could tell it was you from that crappy picture they used."

Nate nodded, "That too. I honestly had no clue that book would sell so well" He thought back on all the people who had come up to them, brandishing copies of _Honor Among Thieves_ and asking for signatures. After he put treasure hunting behind him for good, he started writing. It was mostly things he and Sully had done, but Nate wrote them down all the same. Sure, he changed some names here and there but the fact of the matter was that it was a decent way of making some cash. _Drake's Fortune_ though had been his big break out. The tale of Nate's (or as he renamed himself, Desmond) for El Dorado ended up in the top ten for the New York Times best seller list for a good five months. The publishing company loved the success and quickly asked for another book, which Nate had no problem. So the hunt for Shambhala was written up, edited and printed. It only took a week after its release to hit number one and stay there.

"It's funny to hear them ask how you come up with the material" Elena yawned, scooting closer to her husband.

"Funnier to have people beg for Lucy and Desmond to get married and have an ungodly amount of kids" he smirked, "Think they'll ever figure out it's us?"

"Who knows" she paused, "Would having kids be so bad?"

He laid there, the question not really catching him off guard, "I don't think so. As long as it's with you, as corny as that sounds"

"Be a different type of adventure" Elena replied, absent-mindedly stroking his chest.

"And the process of making a kid isn't horrible," he said, kissing her as he rolled on top of her, "It can be all sorts of fun" she laughed before he kissed her again.

"God, you can be such a hornball!" she squirmed as he kissed up and down her jaw and neck this time, "Besides, I thought you were tired?"

"I think you and I can stay awake for this," he grinned at her, "don't you?" He started kissing her again, letting one of his hands tangle itself through her hair as she wrapped her arms around his back. She moaned as their kiss became more passionate, heat pooling in the pit of her belly.

They pulled apart, their breathing heavy. "We have to get up early" Elena whispered.

"We can manage" came Nate's husky reply as he turned off the bedside lamp, "We've done it before" She looked into his eyes and that was the only push she needed. All the passion, need, and underlying love in both of their eyes was all that it took.


	5. Wedding

**A Wedding – or – A Day Filled With Nerves and Glaring In-Laws**

She was tired of holding still and sitting in front of the same god-damn mirror for the past two and an half hours as Chloe worked her magic. She glanced at the clock again; the guest would be starting to arrive soon. Elena fidgeted in her seat, her nerves and anxiety growing faster than ever.

"God Sunshine, hold still!" Chloe huffed, placing a firm had on Elena's shoulder and forcing her to stay still, "I'm about done, alright?"

"Sorry. I just really want this to be done and over," Elena sighed, now tapping her foot.

Chloe laughed as she grabbed another bobby pin off the vanity, "I never thought I hear the bride say that! No wonder you two took the court house route the first time around."

"It's a vow renewal. I thought we weren't going to make a big deal out of this!" Elena groaned, fighting the urge to bang her head on the vanity table.

"Well, it pretty much your wedding for the rest of us. Think of it as a do-over and chance to make some good memories before the hot honeymoon sex" Chloe stated as she continued to work on Elena's hair, "Besides, can't exactly say 'no' when your parents want in now can you? I mean, you and Nate pretty much eloped even if you did tell other people."

"Not my fault that neither of us were really willing to wait" Elena grumbled. She really had wanted this vow renewal to be quite affair and Nate had agreed with her. Both knew that inviting her parents would probably cause tension all around, but seeing how their original "wedding" was going to the nearby court house with Sully… God, Chloe was right. She looked down at her phone, opening up the picture that Sully had taken that day. That day, her dress was a nice, but simple white sundress with her arm laced with Nate's who dressed in slacks, a white button up and jacket. Nothing special, nothing big, just them. That was six months before the biggest fight either of them had ever had… before Nate left for Iram of the Pillars.

"Done. So, do you want to put the veil on now or before we head out?" Chloe asked as she set the extra bobby pins down, interrupting Elena's musings.

"I think it can wait. It can't be that hard to put a veil on, can it?" she replied, trying to add some form of humor to clam her nerves.

Chloe gave her a chuckle, "Sounds like a plan," she said as she starting heading out the bedroom, "I don't know about you, but I know my stomach is gonna be making all sorts of noise if I don't get some chow. Do you want anything?"

"No thanks. I think I'll just throw back up if I do" Elena sighed as she stood up from the chair and flipped open her phone.

"Oh no, no, no, no, no!" Chloe quickly turned around and snatched the cell phone out Elena's hands.

"Hey!"

"Don't even think about it sweetheart."

"I was not going to call Nate."

"But you were thinking about it" Elena felt all the blood rush to her cheeks, and Chloe stifled a laugh, "Doesn't even try to deny it. Don't worry, I'll hand it over before the end of the day."

"Is is too late for me to cancel the whole thing?" Elena let herself collapse on the bed.

"Just wait Sunshine. In about thirty minutes, you'll be thanking everyone who pushed you two treat this whole thing like a wedding."

* * *

><p>"Sully, remind me why I even agreed to this?" Nate grumbled as he struggled with his tie, looking over at Sully in the mirror and watched him finish the last of his cigar.<p>

Sully just shook his head and came over, "Let me," he took over the tie tying, "If I remember correctly, you agreed to all this to keep Elena's folks from thinking you two eloped. Even though that's pretty much what the two of you did." He chuckled at that, finishing off Nate's tie and tossed him his vest, "Besides, look at the bright side. In a couple of hours, you'll have the perfect excuse to stay in bed for the next couple of days, if you know what I mean."

Nate gave out a small chuckle, "You're a dirty old man, Sullivan."

"I do my best. Now finish up so that way we get the hell outta here. This is something you don't want to be late for after all. If I got it right, most wives would never let that go."

* * *

><p>Elena started pacing. Ten minutes before curtain time and she was certain that her mother had guilt tripped her into this so that she wouldn't get the easy way out. God knew she wasn't this nervous when she went up to the court house. She was so busy being a jumble of nerves that she didn't even take notice when her father and Chloe rejoined her until Chloe shoved a bouquet in her face.<p>

"Time to get this show on the road" Chloe said as she let Elena take her bouquet, "Don't worry. I'll get those two 'bridesmaids' into their places. I'm not the maid of honour for nothing." Elena watched as Chloe march over to her cousins and bully them into their places.

"Ready for this?" her father asked offering his arm.

"I guess so," she replied, looping her arm with his, "I swear, this is Mom making sure I go through all the same suffering she went through."

"I don't think your mom would be that mean."

"She's been telling me about how she was nothing but nerves during your wedding." Before her father had a chance to say anything, the music started up and one of the longest walks Elena had ever taken began…

….along with the longest time Nate ever had to wait for anything. He had been fidgeting the whole time, even after Sully nudged him in the side. Nate was nervous about the whole thing. It didn't help when Elena's mother would send him dirty looks every now and then, as if daring him to run away from this and leave Elena at the altar. If Nate didn't know better, he could have sworn all thirteen of Elena's family that had been invited and showed up were sizing him up. Well… maybe not her cousins. Both of them looked busy messing around with their phones.

Nate glanced over to his "family". Even in the tiny church, his six guests looked like a speck compared to Elena's. But then again, he was just happy that he still had some old com-padres he could trust not to shoot him in the ass as he walked out the door. Except for Allen maybe, he seemed to still be upset that at Nate for letting his girlfriend get captured by pirates six or seven years ago. Sure, they had gotten her back, but that still didn't mean Allen refused to talk to Nate for awhile.

And then the music had started up and Nate instantly stopped fidgeting. He watched as Elena's two cousins and Chloe walk down the aisle in their turquoise dresses (he could have sworn he saw Chloe give Charlie a wink as she walked past him). He watched as everyone rise from their seats as Elena began her walk down the aisle. Then his eyes landed on Elena and he remembered why agreed to this.

It was for Elena to have her special day. The day she had more than likely been dreaming of since she was child. Maybe imagining right after he proposed to her. She didn't get to have this the first time around. No white lacey wedding dress or slightly tacky bridesmaids' dresses, and no fancy cake. Elena may have moaned and complained about the stress and headaches caused by wedding planning, but he saw the smiles that would gradually show. This was his chance to give her something she always wanted.

After what seemed like an eternity for both of them, Elena was finally at the altar. Elena's father placed her hand in Nate's and the couple began grinning like idiots. They went through the rest of the ceremony like that, never letting go of the other's hand. Of course, Nate had to hold himself back once the ceremony was finished and try not to give Elena a kiss that was probably best kept in the privacy of their home.


	6. Proposal and Dr Seuss

**Proposal – or – A Slight Head Injury, Running From Pirates, and an Interrupted Romantic Moment**

"Nate! Nathan!" Elena cried as she repeatedly slapped Nate's face, "Baby! Wake up!" Her panic rose as she saw blood trickle from somewhere on his scalp down his forehead. "Oh god…Nate, please wake up!" She frantically found and pulled out a handkerchief, trying to stop the bleeding.

"They went this way!" a man shouted, his voice not too far away.

"Shit!" Elena quickly took hold of the unconscious Nate and dragged him into some nearby underbrush. The shouting of the men following them grew louder and Elena just barely ducked down into the underbrush. She listened as a large number of pirates ran over to the area and prayed that their hiding spot wasn't found. A hand rested on her gun as the other was wrapped protectively around his shoulders, his head resting in her lap. _Please, don't let them find us…I can't fight them all off!_

"They're not here!"

"Where the hell did they go then?"

"Maybe they went over the cliff!" a number of the pirates laughed at that.

There was a few minutes of the pirates loitering around, a few poking around in the underbrush. Elena's grip on her boyfriend's shoulders tightened as she brought up her gun, ready to shoot if they were found. There were at least ten men out there, each carrying an AK-47 and she was terrified. She nearly jumped and blew their cover when Nate moaned softly.

"Ugh… Elena?" Nate groaned slowly coming to, looking around in a daze.

"Nate!" she whispered, quickly silencing him as he tried to say something, "Don't." He gave her a confused look which faded into alertness when he heard the pirates. His efforts to get up were quickly halted by Elena and they waited with bated breath for their pursuers to leave. It seemed to be forever till the pirates left the area, but one by one they did. Once silence filled the area, the couple let out held breaths.

"I guess I should thank you," Nate said, "for not letting me get caught by pirates and all."

"How could I? You didn't leave me behind, you didn't…you didn't leave Jeff behind. Besides," she placed a gentle kiss on his brow, "if I left the man I love behind, I would never forgive myself." Nate gave a slight chuckle.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay. So…wanna tell me exactly how we ended up here?"

"What do you remember?"

"Uh…running from pirates, and then nearly running off a cliff….It's kind of fuzzy after that." Nate hissed, starting to feel pain radiating from his scalp.

"Well, after nearly running off the cliff, you turned around and ran into low tree branch. You fell and hit your head on a pretty large rock." Elena explained, pulling out the handkerchief she used earlier to clean up the blood on his face, "I tried waking you up but then our less-then friendly pirates started heading up this way and I ended up dragging you over here."

"Sorry about that." he took one of her hands in his, "I think… we should hide out here for a bit longer. In case they come back." His voice was just above a whisper; Elena nodded, squeezing his hand a little. They stared at each other, neither of them noticing how the minutes ticked away. "Marry me."

The sudden sound of Nate's voice startled Elena, and when her mind fully processed what Nate had just said, she could only say one thing in response, "What?"

"Marry me." his voice was stronger this time, filled with hopeful confidence.

"Are-are you serious?" she said with a nervous laugh, feeling her face turn hot.

He nodded, "I wouldn't ask you if I wasn't."

"Nate….I…" Elena by now was keenly aware of the strong blush that covered her features.

"Elena, you are by far the greatest treasure I've ever stumbled upon."

"So I'm something to be owned?" Elena joked, giving him a playful frown. Unfortunately, Nate didn't pick up on it and began to panic.

"No! Nothing like that! I meant-!" she let out a light laugh and kissed him.

"I know what you meant." He frowned at her, before giving her a small smile.

"You never answered though." he murmured, "Will you marry me, Elena Fisher?" Her grip on his hand tightened and she struggled to find proper words. She looked down at him, his eyes showing every ounce of passion he held just for her. She could see the underlying love, expressing the words he rarely said. Tears began to prick her eyes and her lips slowly, gently curled into a smile.

"Yes." Elena whispered. She nodded, whispering her answer again and watched as Nate's face slowly formed into a large smile. He gave out small bursts of joyful laughter which Elena joined, letting herself be pulled into an awkward hug.

"You know, I was going to propose in a more romantical way." Nate said after awhile, the large goofy grin still on his face.

"Oh really?"

"Yup. Big fancy dinner at home, nice music… Damn," he slowly sat up, "I even bought the ring." She laughed as he grumbled about how he should have brought said ring with him.

"Well… since you don't have the ring on you, you can propose all over again when we get done with this." He nodded before messing with his ancestor's ring, "Besides, a nice fancy dinner at home with you sounds fantastic right now." Elena moaned letting her head fall into his lap as Nate chuckled.

"Well… I wasn't exactly expecting pirates in this neck of the woods." He took hold of Elena's left hand, imaging the small silver band on her ring finger.

"When do does anybody expect pirates?" she sighed, closing her eyes as she allowed herself to relax. She focused on the warmth of Nate's hand on her's, her smile growing as she mentally jumped for joy. Then Elena felt something slip on one of her fingers. She opened her eyes and looked the hand Nate was holding.

"A bit big, I know." On her ring finger was Sir Francis Drake's ring. As Nate pointed out, it was far too large on her tiny hand. "But it should do for now."

Elena studied the old band, slowly turning it as she read the engraving. A very tiny part of her suddenly wondered why she said yes, as she looked up at Nate. The goofiness in his smile had faded, but he looked as though he won the jackpot of a very expensive and high-stakes poker game. He took her hand in his again and gave it a light kiss. "You realize what this means right?"

Nate quirked an eyebrow, "What?"

"That I'm not letting you out of my sight." Elena said, sitting herself up.

"Don't you do that already?" he asked, laughing slightly.

"It'll be even worse." she said smiling, "You're going to have a hard time keeping me out of all the action Mr. Drake." They smiled at each other, their hands entwined.

"I guess so," Nate said softly, slowly leaning in, "but it'll make things more interesting." They slowly got closer, their eyes falling shut. Their lips met into a gentle kiss, and slowly the intensity began to build. Their kiss would have gone on longer, and perhaps build with intensity and passion, had Nate's cell phone been off or on silent.

* * *

><p><strong>Dr. Seuss – or – A Day With Grandpa Reading Obscure Dr. Seuss Books<strong>

"Mommy! Mommy!" two-year-old Alex called out. Sully looked up from the paper to see his grandson totter around with a book in his hands.

"She's at work Alex, remember?" Sully replied, a small smile on his face.

"Oh." Alex stayed silent for a moment, "Daddy! Daddy!"

"Daddy's at work, too." Sully said with a chuckle, setting the paper down.

He watched as Alex pondered over something before he started again, "Auntie! Auntie! Auntie~?"

"Aunt Chloe's trying to sleep, Alex," Sully said, "and the same goes with your Uncle Charlie." He patted the empty couch seat next to him, "Why don't you come up here and show Grandpa what ya got?"

Alex's face lit up and he quickly ran over and climbed up to sit next to his grandpa. "Read! Grandpa read!" the little boy exclaimed joyfully, waving the book back and forth. Sully just chuckled and gently took the book from Alex's hand.

"A Dr. Seuss book, huh?" he said aloud, looking at the cover (_Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose_), "Alright," Sully opened up the book as Alex scooted closer, "I guess I can read a you a book or two while we wait for everybody. _Up at Lake Winna-Bango…the far northern shore..._"

The two of them did this for what seemed like hours. Sully would finish one book and then Alex would run off to get another. The end table next to Sully quickly started to look like what every flat surface looked like in Nate's bachelor days – covered with books. Not that Sully expected anything different. He was sure though that if Elena was in the house at the moment, she'd be telling her son to go put one back before grabbing another. But Sully didn't mind. If anything, it meant he would end up reading the same book twice.

* * *

><p>Chloe yawned as she slowly pulled herself out of bed, not bothering to look at the clock. Her flight from the U.K. to Washington State had been neither short nor easy. Her flight to New York had been delayed, nearly making her miss her connector to Kansas City International Airport thanks to winter weather. And then from there, it had been bumpy skies. To say that Chloe was happy to see Sully, Nate, and little Alex at the gate when she landed was probably an understatement.<p>

She winced a little as she placed her feet on the cold floor of the basement, and quickly slipped her feet into socks. "Next time, we're claiming an actual room," Chloe muttered to herself, tossing one of the blankets over her shoulders before heading upstairs.

"_…The King now knew that these four old-fashioned things …the rain, the sunshine, the fog and the snow… were good enough for any kin in all the world, especially for him, old King Derwin of Didd._" came Sully's voice, followed a joyful cheer from Alex as Chloe walked into the living room.

"What's this? Story time?" Chloe asked, announcing her presence.

"Auntie Chloe!" Alex cried and ran up to her for a hug before going off into toddler babble that only parents seemed to understand. She was forced to answer the little boy with "uh-huh"s, "oh"s and "ah"s for awhile. Eventually Chloe was able to suggest Alex getting another book for her to read.

"Been holding down the fort for long?" Chloe asked as she plopped herself down on the couch.

"Nah… Nate and Elena will be back in about half an hour or so." Sully said, glancing up at the wall clock, "I've been reading Alex Dr. Seuss books for the past hour."

"An hour? You're kidding, right?" she said with a laugh.

"Well, more like forty-five minutes. I'll tell ya, I didn't even know there were so many goddamn Dr. Seuss books. I figured there be a few I didn't know about, but some of them I never knew existed." He picked up the book he finished reading to Alex, "Ever heard of this one?"

Chloe took it a look at it, "_Bartholomew and the Oobleck_? That's a Dr. Seuss?" Sully nodded and placed it back into the pile as Chloe slouched into the couch, "How do they do it?" she wondered aloud, referring to Nate and Elena.

"I don't think we'll ever know." Sully replied.


	7. Stay at Home Dad and Up a Cliff

**Stay at Home Dad – or – Writer's Block and Crayon Drawings**

Nate stared at his computer screen. No. Nate glared at his computer screen. He had spent the last hour trying to figure out how to start off this new book. It seemed like ages since he wrote down one of his adventures, especially since he was trying to write down his journey with Chase and Dante. Not that Nate didn't mind writing down some of his adventures, but it had been so long since he done it. It had been at least five years since _Drake's Deception_ was published. Since then, he had been working on something different. Nate was still using history as the focus of his stories, sure, but randomly adding assassin's into the mix was always fun.

Nate let out a frustrated sigh and leaned back into his computer chair. Maybe he should take up Bad Dog's offer to come down to their studio to see the progress on the _Honor Among Thieves _game. That would probably spark the creative juices. If not, at least he would be away from his computer.

He looked down as he felt small tugs at the bottom of his shirt. "Daddy~!" A soon-to-be three Sophie said in a failed whisper, waving a semi-large piece of paper. Nate smiled and picked her up, placing her on his lap.

"What ya got there?" Nate asked, though he had a pretty good idea of what it was.

"Picture! For you!" she said as he took the paper out of her tiny hands. "It's everybody!" Nate chuckled as he studied the crayon drawing. Indeed it was everyone that she knew. He listened as she pointed out their house and the forest-like area behind it and who was who. Nate gladly responded at the right times and with the right comments. "Do you like?"

His smile grew, "Of course I do!" he kissed the top of her head, earning a giggle from her, "I think it deserves a spot up on the board."

"Really?" Sophie's smile lit up like a thousand watt bulb as she watched Nate grab some thumb tacks.

"Yeah!" he placed her back down on the floor as he stood up, "You're getting pretty good." Nate wasn't lying about that. It seemed both kids had inherited his drawing skills and with it, their motor skills decided to develop a little early. He unpinned and rearranged a few drawings and photos to make room for the new one. Nate picked Sophie up after he was done to let her see her drawing.

"Thank you Daddy." Sophie said as she hugged him.

"You're welcome Sophie," he gave her another kiss before setting her down, "Now I don't know about you, but I'm thinking it's time for lunch." Nate chuckled at her rapid nod, "So how about I make us some sandwiches and you draw something for Mom?"

"Okay!" she agreed with a great amount of enthusiasm and ran over to her spot on the floor. He quickly saved the three sentences he had typed up and headed for the kitchen, being careful not to step on any of Sophie's crayons. Kids, Nate had to admit, provided great distractions from work. He wished he knew that before he had started writing.

* * *

><p><strong>Up A Cliff – or – Leading Up to a Proposal<strong>

"Come on! Up this way!" Charlie called down to them as he scaled the small cliff.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Elena called back, "There's a perfectly good trail over there!"

"I think we better take Charlie's word on this one." Nate said walking over to the cliff, "Come on, I'll give you a boost." Elena gave him a look that was somewhere between agitated and amused. She let Nate lift her up to the thicker vines.

"You know, when you asked me if I wanted to come along with you and your buddy to India, I thought we wouldn't be climbing up cliffs in the jungle." Elena joked as carefully started to climb up, "Let me know if you need me to speed it up."

"Nah, you're fine. Rather you take your time than getting yourself hurt." Nate replied, admiring the view he got of her backside and legs. _Save those thoughts for later Drake…_

Elena laughed, "So do you really think there's a temple up ahead Charlie?" she called out to the Brit.

"Yes I do, gorgeous. If not a temple, a good small fortune's worth of artifacts to split between the lot of us." Charlie said before returning his attention to the climb.

"Even if we don't find much, we'll get some good pay. Some of the stuff Charlie's shown me is in really good shape. A little of the wear and tear that's expected, but museums will be willing to pay. They won't have to try and piece it all back together." Nate added, "Think of it as a test run for your new camera!" She looked down at him, giving him a playful glare which Nate returned with an equally playful grin.

Soon, the trio reached the top and they allowed themselves a moment to gather their bearings and catch their breath. The sun was slowly sinking beneath the horizon, signaling that night was approaching along with all the unwanted nightlife.

"So, we're here. It's a good ten miles from this temple. So we'll have to wait till tomorrow morning." Charlie informed them, pointing out the location to Nate on the map.

"I take it you've got a camping spot up ahead then?" Nate asked, getting a nod from Charlie. "Lead the way," Nate said, tossing his pack over his shoulders.

"Wait, wait, wait! I wanna get a shot of this." Elena announced, already digging the camera out of her bag. "Hold this for a moment." She instructed, thrusting the large bag into Nate's chest. He shrugged and went to join Charlie who was good couple of feet away.

"Just don't get too close to the edge!" Nate called out. Her response was a simple bob of the head as she began to do some quick filming.

"This gonna take long?" Charlie asked, pointing to Elena.

"Don't worry about it. She just wants to get a good shot before she misses it." Nate said, keeping his eyes on her. They were silent for a few moments.

"So, are you gonna ask after this?" the Brit asked.

"Ask what?"

"You know…" Charlie jerked a thumb towards Elena and made a "pop" sound. It took Nate a moment to realize that his friend was asking about proposing to Elena.

"Yeah…if this pays off." Nate replied quietly.

"What do you mean, 'if this pays off'?"

"Just wanna make sure that we can do the whole wedding thing, even if it's small." Charlie just chuckled and murmured something about Nate being whipped.

"I think I got it! Ready whenever you two are." Elena said as she headed over to where Charlie and Nate where standing.

* * *

><p>Elena sighed as she felt the tension in her shoulders and back being massaged away by Nate. "Feeling better?" he asked as he finished up.<p>

"Yeah… God, I'm just glad we were able to get camp set up so quickly. I almost forgot how tense I get after all that climbing." Elena moaned as she let herself tumble onto the large sleeping bag. Nate just smiled and took off his shirt before he let himself plop down next to her.

"As long as we don't get shot at, I think I'll call this a successful trip." Nate said, "I'll be happy when we leave. Love exploring and all, but today reminded me why I don't do rainforests."

"Humid, hot, and it's like taking a bath when it rains." Elena replied, agreeing with him. She scooted a little closer to him though, despite the heat. "You know, if it weren't for the possibility of catching malaria, I'm sure you'd be running around without a shirt on." He smirked at that comment.

"I could say the same for you." Nate said as his smirk turned into a slightly perverted grin. She rolled her eyes before giving Nate a peck on the cheek and turning out the lantern.

"That's enough from you cowboy. Let's get some sleep." Elena yawned as she let herself get more comfortable.

"Yeah… gonna have a long walk." The two of them fell quiet, the only sounds to be heard was the nighttime symphony of the Indian jungle. Nate let it lull him to sleep, his body eager to rest after the taxing day.

"Nate…?" Elena whispered softly, her voice reflecting her tiredness.

"Hm?"

"…I love you…" he smiled and pulled her close, kissing the crown of her head.

"And I love you…" Nate mumbled, letting sleep carry him off. That night, he dreamed of Elena's smile and a small, silver band resting on her finger.


	8. Close Calls

**Close Calls – or – Knocking At Death's Door**

He was certain that this was going to be his last few moments in life. Here on this mountain, alone, in the middle of a blizzard, cold and blood slowly trickling out of him. To be honest, this really wasn't what he was expecting for his death. Being shot by an ex-pal/partner and then having to climb and fight his way out of train wreckage… Nate stumbled through the snow, knowing that if he didn't keep moving he would freeze. It was windy and so damn cold. His grip tightened on his side, trying to stop more blood from flowing out of his body. It seemed like days that he walked towards god knows where.

He stumbled and fell to his knees. He thought of Sully, the man who had (against better judgment no doubt) taken him in and became the father figure Nate never had. He thought about his botched attempt to rescue Chloe; in hindsight, he should've seen that one coming. Chloe never the "rescue me" type… Damn it. He should have listened to Elena.

Elena…

He couldn't die here. He picked himself up, gritting his teeth from the pain. The chances Elena was already looking for him were pretty damn high and there was no way in hell he would let her find his dead body. He took a step forward and he could see Elena's smile. Another step and he could hear her call out his name. He tried to take another step forward, but his burst of strength gave out. He fell forward, started to drag himself. Nate could hear Elena call out to him, telling him to keep moving, that he was going to get through this, that he was going to live.

The pain was excruciating now. He tried to fight it back. He tried to drag himself forward again but he couldn't. He could hear Elena screaming at him, crying at him to get back up, to move. Nate couldn't though. The will was there, but the energy and strength had left him. He was painfully aware of his blood flowing out of him. He looked up, his vision swimming. Nate could have sworn that someone was right in front of him…

Darkness started to surround him, succumbing to the cold and the blood loss. His thoughts were of Elena. The first time he met her… that mean right hook of hers… their first kiss… For the first time in years, Nate prayed. Prayed to whoever would be listening that he would live through this and see Elena again.

* * *

><p>All that she could feel was pain and the blood flowing out of her. Elena wondered briefly if this is what Nate felt like in the train wreckage. God…she should have listened to Nate on this one. She moaned as Chloe picked her back up, saying something about getting to the other side of something and cursing Nate for trying to be the hero.<p>

"Let's take this one step at a time, alright Sunshine?" Chloe said, "You can do it."

"…'kay…" Elena whimpered out. Each step was painful and hard to take. All of Chloe's words of encouragement fell on deaf ears. Elena's mind wouldn't stop focusing on the pain her injuries were causing her and that Nate was practically banging on Death's door again. She knew that she herself was doing the same, that the chances she would live through this… Elena gasped out in pain as she and Chloe stumbled over something in their path.

She would give anything at this moment to have Nate with her. But he was trying to stop Lazarevic, playing the hero. She wasn't going to lie, if he saved the day and she lived through this, they were going to have a very steamy make-up session that involved a bed. Elena moaned from the thought and from the pain.

"…shine? Elena?" Chloe gave her a light shake, causing Elena to moan again. "C'mon! Just a little further and then we're across!"

She felt Chloe pick up the pace. Elena tried to keep up, but her vision started to blur and darken. She barely registered Chloe saying they were across and now it was time for stairs. "I…I can't…" she was able to get. Chloe set her down.

"Okay. Just a-a … a little rest." Even with her blurred vision, she could see Chloe looking back in the direction they came. Elena knew what Chloe was looking for…

"Nate…" Elena began. Chloe heard her and immediately started babbling how he would come back. It took awhile to get Chloe to shut up, but Elena was able to, "…Nate'll…come back… and if….he doesn't….I'm going after him…"

"Just hang in there, okay?" Chloe murmured, gently patting her shoulder.

After that, Elena wasn't sure what happened. She was going in and out of consciousness, and whenever she was awake, all she felt was pain. She briefly thought of her family, her friends at work, the craziness she ended up getting wrapped up in again… she felt herself grow cold. It was so warm earlier… _Not good…_ Elena knew she was slipping. Her vision blurred and darkened further. She barely acknowledged Chloe calling out to Nate or the ground rumbling underneath her.

Then suddenly she heard Nate's voice, felt him and Chloe bring her up to her feet. Even in her poor state of consciousness she could tell that they were making quick work of the stairs. She heard Nate say something about moving faster. A sense of weightlessness took over her and she felt warmth. Elena questioned if she dead at this point. She felt so weak, so cold, so tired… She couldn't hang on anymore. Elena just hoped that it was Nate carrying her away from this place.


	9. Shopping

**Shopping – or – "I Feel Like a Cupcake"**

Nate looked up at the clock, slightly concerned that Elena wasn't home yet. Chloe had arrived early that morning and "kidnapped" Elena to go wedding dress shopping. Did it really take all day to find a wedding dress? It was four o'clock and there had only been one phone call from Elena (which had been quickly ended by Chloe). He figured that Chloe or someone in Elena's family would have at least sent him some kind of message of when Elena would be back.

"God, what am I? A dog?" Nate muttered as he got up from the couch to turn on the PS3. If he was going to wait around, he might as well do something to entertain himself.

* * *

><p>Elena was done with dress shopping. She lost count of how many dresses she had tried on. All she wanted to do was go home and sit on the couch with Nate and watch him play video games. He always played the games that were interesting, like <em>Shadow of the Colossus<em>.

"Do you like, sweet-heart?" her mother asked.

"Do you want my honest opinion, Mom?" Elena asked dryly, sighing as she saw her relatives and Chloe nod, "I feel like a cupcake." She let her arms fall to her side and they almost immediately got lost in the fabric of the skirt, "No offense Mom."

"I told you!" Chloe laughed, earning a glare from Elena's mother. The Maid of Honour got up from her seat, "I swear, you could make three more gowns from the skirt alone." Chloe patted her on the shoulder before Elena was lead off to the dressing room where more dresses awaited.

"God… I don't know how much more I can take." Elena groaned as the consultant, Sasha, helped her out of the ball-room gown.

"Do you want to call the appointment over? You did say you've been looking all day." Sasha asked. It was tempting. She could almost feel herself in her sheep-print pajama bottoms and one of Nate's shirts.

"Can you get Chloe in here? Really quick?" she requested, gnawing on her lower lip. Sasha nodded and told her to take a seat and relax for a moment. Elena groaned as she let her feet rest. Why on earth had she agreed to let her mother and her Aunt Cassidy pay for her "wedding" dress (Elena refused to call this ceremony anything but a vow renewal). She had forgotten how opinionated and stubborn both women could be. Both could only imagine her in a Cinderella or Disney-Princess-like dress. At least Chloe had been adding variety to the selection.

"Hey, Sunshine." Chloe said, knocking lightly on the door.

"Please. Let me call Nate." Elena moaned as she got up to hug Chloe.

"Ah, can't survive a day without him?"

"You literally dragged me out of bed and forced me into a skirt and a tee-shirt." Elena replied, "I just want to talk to him before I get forced to dress like Cinderella again."

"Here," Chloe dug out Elena's cell phone, "Call him and tell him to meet us over at Wooster at six. I'll tell your mum and aunt that you're going to do one more dress and then we're out of here." Elena nodded, giving Chloe another hug before she left the room. Elena quickly dialed Nate's number and began pacing the small dressing room.

_"Hello?" _She instantly felt better at hearing his voice.

"Hey Nate."

_"Hey! How's the dress shopping going?"_

"Poorly. My mom and my aunt seem to think I'm still four-years-old." Elena sighed, "It's been a day filled with dresses that make me feel like a cupcake or swimming in fabric."

He laughed, _"That bad, huh?"_

"You have no idea."

_"You gonna be okay?"_

"Yeah…yeah… I'll be fine. It's just been a long day." Elena said, gently rubbing a temple.

_"I take it that means you'll be home soon."_ Nate replied in a hopeful tone.

"Not really. We're going to the Wooster in a few." He sighed, "We'll be there around six…"

_"That sounds like an invitation."_

"It is. Please come, I'm begging you."

_"I thought today was going to be the big girly day out?_" he asked with a small laugh.

"Think of it as an opportunity to try and get along with both Mom and Aunt Cassidy."

_"You sure? The last time I tried to have a meal with your folks, it didn't go very well."_

"Please, Nate…" she murmured. They were both silent for a moment, before Nate gave in and said yes. After confirming the time and place and exchanging goodbyes, the call ended and Elena felt better. She watched as the consultant brought in another ball-gown and readied herself the sea of fabric she was about to dive into.

* * *

><p>"I really did think you would find something that you liked! Really, I don't know why the two of you insist on having this wedding within the next two months." Aunt Cassidy complained, her mother nodding her head in agreement.<p>

"First things first, it's a _vow renewal_. Secondly, we're having it in two months because that's when I can use my vacation days without my boss bitching about it." Elena said, rubbing her temples. She wondered how many times she had to say that.

"Don't worry too much about it. We'll find a nice dress that you'll love Sunshine." Chloe said as she turned into the parking lot for the restaurant, "If we don't, we've always got the back-up plan." She shot Elena a smile, causing her to laugh. Elena and Chloe both knew that the two older women in the car would probably murder them if Elena showed up for her "wedding" in her white sundress.

"Come on, I'm starving." Elena grumbled as she stepped out of the car, dusting everyone as she headed inside. A hostess showed her to the table that Nate was at. The two of them shared an embrace before taking their seats. "You're coming along tomorrow."

"Coming along for what?" Nate asked with a confused look.

"Looking for a wedding dress. And before you say anything about how my mom and aunt and what they're going to say, I don't care. We're already married." Elena said, earning a chuckle from her husband. He took her hand in his.

"Whatever you say."


	10. Week to Go, Office Party, and Tea Party

**A Week to Go – or – Finding the Perfect Name**

Elena groaned as she rolled out of bed and waddled towards the bathroom, hissing as she felt her unborn child move again and hit her bladder. She moved a little faster, turning on the light to the small bathroom. The mothers she had talked to at the grocery store weren't kidding about this. A week before the due date, and her little one seemed to be more than willing to show how active he would be once he popped out. She let out a noise of discomfort as he shifted again, this time up against her lungs. She finished up and slowly headed back to bed.

"Everything okay?" Nate mumbled as Elena settled herself under the covers.

"Yeah, just ready for him to come out." Elena sighed.

"Just a little longer and then we'll see him." He kissed her lightly on the cheek, resting a hand just above her navel, "Besides, we haven't decided on a name yet."

Elena nodded, lacing her fingers through his, "We're still going to use Sullivan for the middle name?"

"Yeah," he moved himself closer to her, "How about Lawliet?"

"No. What about Alistair?" They looked at each other before Nate shook his head, "Yeah, doesn't sound right."

"Theodor?"

"That's my dad's name." They both sighed. For two months they had been going through names and neither of them could narrow down the list. The two of them laid there in a comfortable silence, pondering a number of things.

"Alexander." Nate said quietly, voicing the name that had been floating around in his head for awhile.

Elena looked over at him, "Alexander?" He nodded, his thumb stroking her belly, "Alexander Sullivan Drake…" She murmured aloud, mulling it over.

"Sounds good, huh?" he asked, "It's been stuck in there for weeks."

She rested her other hand on top her stomach, "Alexander Sullivan Drake…" Elena felt a small kick against their hands, "Alex…" another kick.

Nate chuckled as he felt the movement against his hand. He placed his other hand atop his wife's stomach. "I think we have a winner." Elena and Nate shared a smile, "And it only took us, what? Three, four months?" he said with a laugh.

"Not long at all." Elena yawned, her smile not wavering an inch. He kissed her before settling back down in his spot. "We haven't told Sully that we're using his last name, have we?"

"Nope." He pulled her close, "And we aren't telling him till after Alex is born."

* * *

><p><strong>Office Party – or – A Night with Fan Clubs, a Possible Assignment, and an Unwanted Memory<strong>

"You sure it's okay that we're late? It is your office party after all." Nate asked as he locked the car.

"I'm pretty sure. It's just a Christmas party." Elena said, taking Nate's arm and leading him up to the building, "We would have been here sooner if weren't for _someone_ trying to take off my clothes." Nate let out a low chuckle and slipped out his arm from her grasp to wrap it around her waist.

"It's not my fault you choose the sexy blue dress," Nate replied, letting his hand slid lower. Elena rolled her eyes and then let her hand slip into his back pocket.

"c'mon. Let's get in there before Marcy starts calling me. I'm sure your little fan club is eager to meet you in person."

* * *

><p>Nate wished he had fully believed his wife when she told him he had a bit of a fan club at the office. As the large group of women surrounded him however, he began to doubt that even Elena knew exactly how big the fan club was. He was just thankful that book signing tour had gotten him used to all the attention he was receiving at the moment.<p>

"It's just so romantic~!" one woman sighed, referring to the end of _Drake's Fortune_.

"You will be writing a sequel, won't you?" another asked, everyone else making a noise of agreement.

"Uh… It's a possibility." Nate answered. He wasn't about to revile that he was working on writing his second adventure with Elena down. Nate quickly excused himself before the group asked or requested anything pertaining to the next book, and went to find Elena. They had barely been at this party for an hour and he was already ready to leave. It took him awhile, but he eventually found her talking to her boss. Nate quietly slipped his arm around her waist and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek. Elena didn't even pause her conversation, just mimicked his action.

"So how did your visit from your fan club go?" Elena inquired as her boss walked off to speak with another employee.

"Fine, I guess." Nate shrugged, "What were you and the big guy talking about?"

"Apparently there's a job coming up in June," Elena began, guiding him over to the champagne table, "Two weeks in Korea for a documentary over the old kingdoms and such."

"It's been a while since you did a documentary," he mused, "Do you think you'll take it if you get the offer?"

"Maybe… It'll be nice change in pace, at least."

"Yeah, we don't have to worry about getting shot at-"

"Haven't had to worry about that for awhile," Elena chuckled.

"-Or worry about pissing off authorities because of a misunderstanding." Nate finished with a smile, "What do you say to heading home and getting a head start on some research?"

"We've only been here for a little over an hour!" Elena said with a laugh, "Besides, don't you have a book to finish up? Your editor has been getting antsy for the last set of chapters."

"I'm almost done. Just…having some trouble," Nate replied with a sigh, a hand running through his hair. She gave him a confused and questioning look, "It's… it's… the bomb scare." They both fell into silence.

Elena gave him a small smile, "You'll be able get it down, Nathan. I know you will," she said softly. He returned her smile and nodded.

* * *

><p><strong>Tea Party – or – Sully's Small Lesson in Parenting<strong>

Sully wasn't quite sure how he landed himself in this situation. He looked over to Nate, who just shrugged to his questioning glance. Sully looked over to his grandson (now ten) who was wearing a look of extreme displeasure.

"Grandpa, would you like some more tea?" his seven-year-old granddaughter asked, holding out a plastic teapot filled with grape Kool-Aid.

"I would love some, Sophie." Sully replied, holding out his tiny teacup. He did his best to ignore his protesting joints from sitting in the small chair. Alex let out a moan of displeasure, which was quickly quieted by Nate giving the young boy a jab to the side.

"Dad! We're out of popcorn!" Sophie informed Nate, holding out the large empty bowl.

"I'm on it." Nate got up from his seat, taking off the large sun-hat and feather boa that Sophie had him put on, "I'll be back in a moment." He took the bowl from his daughter and headed to the kitchen.

Sophie quickly returned to tea party mode and began to serve Kool-Aid to her favorite plush toys. Sully just smiled and took a quick look out the window, watching the snow come down in at a steady pace. He hoped Elena wouldn't have too much trouble getting home from picking up her parents from the airport.

"Ugh! This boring! How much longer do we have to do this?" Alex complained.

"Tea parties aren't boring!" Sophie retorted angrily.

"Yes they are!"

"Okay you two, let's settle down." Sully said, trying to calm the pair down.

"Tea parties are for babies!"

"Are not!"

"Alex, Sophie…" Sully tried again, but the two continued to ignore him. At this moment, he was glad that Nate was a teenager when he had met him in the streets of Cartagena. Sully had no idea how he would've handled the kid at such a young age. He jumped as Sophie vaulted over the table towards Alex. Okay. He wasn't expecting that. Sully quickly got up from his seat and tried to pull the two apart.

"LET'S GET HIM CAKE!" Sophie cried as she began to hit her brother with a large cat-looking plush toy.

"C'mon you two! That's enough!" Sully said loudly, but the two continued on with their little fight, "Nate! I could use your help here!"

Sully didn't get an answer, but Nate was in the room soon with a bowl full of popcorn. Nate just sighed at the sight of his two kids rolling around on the floor, hitting each other with pillows and plush toys and Sully trying to separate them. He set the bowl of popcorn down and walked over.

"I've got this." Nate said, waving Sully aside. "Alexander Sullivan Drake and Sophie Coraline Drake!" Both froze at the sound of their full names. Nate's voice was firm and loud enough to start an avalanche, "If both of you don't stop this instant you can forget about getting anything for Christmas!" Alex and Sophie looked horrified at the thought and immediately separated.

"We're sorry! We're really sorry!" Both of them cried before they started blaming each other.

"I don't care who started what. Now both of you, down in the living room and into a corner."

"But-! But-!" Alex was quickly cut off by a sharp look from his father.

"Living room. Now." Nate said firmly and the two quickly scampered down to the living room. Nate sighed as the footsteps became quieter.

"That was pretty impressive, Kid." Sully said, breaking the silence, "Seems a little harsh though."

"Ugh… they've been fighting like cats and dogs lately. This is the best way Elena and I can think of." Nate groaned as he cleared off the small table.

"Better than nothing, huh?" Sully replied, "You do know that Elena will probably be back with her folks in the next half hour, right?"

"It's just for ten minutes. I just hope they'll behave for the rest of the night." He grabbed the bowl of popcorn and took a small handful, "Want some?"

"Might as well not let it go to waste."

* * *

><p><em>I normally don't do author's notes but I wanted to thank everyone for reading<em>, _along with adding this to their favorites and story alert lists. I hope hear from all of you again, whether it's just a simple review/comment or what people would like to read next._

_Once again, thank you!_


	11. Playground and Nervous

**Playground – or – Distracting Children with the Promise of Pizza**

Alex and Sophie sat on the floor of their father's study. They watched him mumble to himself as he looked between his notes and the giant world map hanging on the wall. They both sighed as he returned to his chair and began typing again.

"Hey Nate, have you seen – Oh! There you two are." Elena said as she stepped into the room and everyone turned to look at her. Nate though had to do a double-take when he saw Alex and Sophie.

"You two are still in here? I thought you would've gone off to do something fun." Nate commented.

"We're waiting for you to get done with work." Alex answered, his sister nodding in agreement. Nate looked torn between telling them he was going to be busy for the next couple of days and stopping his work on his new book. He looked to his wife.

"He'll never get anything done if both of you sit here." Elena teased, "Come on now, let's let your dad work and go to the park." She shooed them out of the room and instructed them to get ready.

"Thank you," Nate said, getting up from his seat to hug his wife.

She gave him a light kiss, "Not a problem. Now get back to writing! When we get back from the park, we're going out for pizza. Got that?"

Nate gave her a smile and nodded, "Loud and clear, my Fearless Leader." She gave him a playful shove as he pulled her close and kissed her.

* * *

><p>"Got you!" Elena exclaimed as she scooped up her giggling daughter and twirled her around. Alex quickly tackled Elena from the side, bringing them to the ground. "Come here you little punk!" Elena cried as she made a grab for Alex, but he quickly got up and ran towards the playground. Sophie wiggled out of her mother's grip and followed her brother. Elena rolled up into a sitting position and watched them start to climb up the playground equipment.<p>

"Mom~! Over here!" Alex called out, waving his arms back and forth; Sophie was quick in mimicking his actions. Elena smiled as she picked herself up and walked over to her children.

"Hey! No climbing on the sides!" She scolded as her son started pulling himself up over the edge.

"Aw-! But Mom!" he pouted.

"You could hurt yourself. Plus, think of all the smaller kids. I don't want you to give them any ideas." Elena said, giving him a disapproving look.

"Can I climb the sides?" Sophie asked with a large smile.

"What do you think the answer is missy?" Elena replied, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"How about no." Sophie pouted, but quickly got over it and headed towards the monkey-bars.

"Bet I can get across faster than you!" Sophie challenged Alex, who accepted and raced her there.

"Be careful!" Elena called out, following the pair at a leisurely pace before taking a spot at the bench. She watched them chase each other, giving herself a small rest before she would be called into action again. Elena let out a small sigh, slightly upset that her stamina had waned from the lack of climbing ruins. Apparently running after a nine and five year old wasn't the type of exercise that she needed.

"Mommy! Let's go to the swings!" Sophie demanded, grabbing Elena's hand.

Elena did a quick survey of the area to find Alex playing with some boys around his age, "Sounds like fun." She let Sophie guide her over to the swing set.

* * *

><p>Nate flexed his fingers, his fingers popping as he tried to work out the stiffness. He glanced at the clock and wondered where his family was. Nate expected them to be back by now at least. He sighed and saved his work. <em>Probably still at the park…<em>

He went to grab his keys when he heard the door open. "Now go clean up and then we'll head out for pizza!" Elena instructed. Both children rushed past their father to the bathroom; the fact that both of them were covered in dirt and grass-stains was not missed by Nate. He bumped into Elena in the living room. Her clothes hadn't been spared from grass-stains either.

"Hey there," he walked up to her, "Looks like the three of you had a good time."

"Jealous?" Elena teased, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Only a little bit, but I got some work done." Nate said, slipping his hands into the back pockets of her jeans.

"Got enough pages done to keep that editor of yours pleased?"

"She better," he removed his hands from her jeans and wriggled his fingers, "It's been awhile since my fingers have been this swore."

"Aw… poor baby!" Elena took his hands in hers, "Do you want me to kiss them better?"

Nate smirked, gently removing her hands from his and pulled her close, "I can think of something better to kiss." He leaned in.

"And what would that be, cowboy?" Elena asked playfully.

"I think you already know." Nate was rewarded with a smirk as Elena threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"Ew~!"

"Gross."

The couple broke apart and looked over at their kids. The two were cleaned up, save for their clothing, and giving their parents comical looks of disgusts. Nate gave his wife a kiss just below her ear causing Elena to giggle.

"Can we go get pizza now?" Alex whined.

* * *

><p><strong>Nervous – or – What Nate &amp; Elena Were Doing While Sully was Reading Dr. Seuss<strong>

Nate gripped Elena's hand a little tighter, his foot tapping as the two of them waited impatiently for the doctor's return. Elena squeezed his hand, leaning over to give him a light kiss on his stubbly cheek. He looked over at her and gave her a shaky smile.

"It's gonna be okay. You know that, right?" Elena said, her voice calm and even.

"Sorry. I guess I'm just over-thinking things." Nate sighed. He ran a hand through his hair, clearly frazzled, "Conflicting emotions and all."

"At least you're not driving me mad with pacing." Elena let her head rest on his shoulder, "You know I'm still trying to picture you _not_ pacing while Alex was being born."

"Still trying to figure that out myself." Nate murmured, leaning back into his chair. His grip on her hand loosened a bit as he sighed.

"Don't worry, Nate. If we're having another kid, then we're having another kid. Alex will get a sibling, and Sully will get another grandchild to help him pick up chicks," Nate chuckled at that, "And look on the upside, my grandmother will stop trying to drop not-so-subtle hints that we need to have more kids."

"Good old, Grandmother Poppy. Always there for a long story and with a new recipe from the family vault." They smiled at each other, "She'll be coming up this year, right?" Elena laughed in response. The office door opened and the doctor stepped in.

"Sorry for the wait," she said as she sat down at the desk, "The results are in. Congratulations, and from what you told me, Mrs. Drake you're about two months along." The reaction took a little bit, but the couple began laugh gleefully and embraced. Nate and Elena easily got their excitement under control and learned the due date (approximately the eighth of July) and were able to schedule the first ultrasound.

"If the results came back negative, you know we probably be doing something else in this car besides driving." Nate said as they drove home, his grin turning slightly lecherous. Elena just laughed and shook her head.

"Good to know you're still a hornball." She kissed her husband on the cheek before taking his hand into hers.


	12. Hike and A Good Morning

**Hike – or – Camping in a Snow Storm**

Nate quickly entered the tent, kicking off his shoes and wet socks. "Jesus, it's freezing out there!" he looked over at Elena who had wrapped herself up in a thick blanket. Nate opened up his pack and pulled out the extra blankets that Elena always kept in the jeep.

"Sorry. I didn't think it would get this cold this early." Elena said as she pulled out dry clothes for Nate, "Along with the snow."

"It's fine. Just means we don't use your vacation days to go hiking in the mountains anymore. Thanks." He took the dry clothing from Elena, slipping on the socks.

"Does nothing faze you anymore?" she laughed, "This would be the worst case scenario for most people."

"Freezing cold, starting to become a blizzard outside… It could be worse." Nate shrugged, "We got a tent up and jeep with supplies."

Elena chuckled, watching her husband with approval as he took off his heavy jacket and shirt in one go. "Probably a good thing we decided to make camp instead of trying to get back into town, huh?" she said, a little disappointed as Nate put on the new shirt.

Nate nodded as he quickly put on the dry pants before making his way over to her. He pulled Elena into his lap, "Share some of that blanket with me, will ya?" She laughed as Nate began to tug the blanket from her grasp. Elena easily tugged back, beginning an odd tug-of-war between the two of them. Soon they were rolling around on the floor, wrestling; it was debatable if it was the blanket they were fighting for at that point.

* * *

><p><strong>A Good Morning – or – Baby Talk and Some Musings<strong>

Elena propped her slightly achy feet up onto the coffee table, still in her pajamas and very happy that her maternity leave kicked in today. Alex eagerly joined her on the couch as Nate finish making breakfast.

"Is it pajama day, Mommy?" Alex asked excitedly.

"Yup. Well… at least until we have to go out." Elena replied, "Oh! There she goes!" Alex gave her an adorably confused look. Elena smiled and quickly placed his small hands on her belly, "Feel that? The baby's kicking."

Alex let out a surprised asp as he felt the unborn child press against his hands, "Does that mean she'll be here today?"

Elena laughed, "No…not today! But when she is, you'll be a big brother!" Alex nodded, large smile on his face.

"Will we be able to play games? And draw?"

"She'll be a little small for that, but give her some time and she'll be able to do the same things you like to do." Elena replied, smiling as her son pouted. She hoped this was an early sign that Alex and their soon-to-be newest addition to the family would get along without too many issues, "Are you excited to see Grandpa today?" Elena asked, knowing that Alex most likely forgot. She laughed as he nodded enthusiastically, "And Grandma Coraline and Grandpa Theo, are you excited to see them too?"

"They're gonna be here today?"

"Yup."

"Is it your birthday?"

Elena let out another laugh, "No~!"

"Is it Daddy's birthday?"

"Nope~! Their coming to see you and your baby sister." She smiled, watching Alex's face contort into some confusion.

"But the baby is still in your tummy!" Alex cried, pointing at her large belly for emphasis.

"True, but she'll come out soon." She kissed the top of his head and gave him a hug, "Now go see if your father is done with breakfast, okay?" Alex nodded and scampered off. Elena's smile grew as she leaned back into the couch, a hand resting comfortably atop her round stomach.

If someone had come up to Elena after her first meeting with Nathan Drake eleven years ago and told her she and Nate would be in their eighth year of their marriage and expecting their second child, she would have scoffed and tell that person to piss off. Elena briefly wondered where she would be if she turned down Nate's business offer or if she had just called it quits when he and Sully abandoned her at the docks. She certainly wouldn't have scarring along her left side. She wouldn't have had panic attacks and moments of despair when she thought Nate was dead. And she most certainly wouldn't have been drawn into the crazy (and admittedly exciting) world of treasure hunting. Though, the more obvious she thought of was that she wouldn't be a mother and happily married.

"I am the luckiest woman in the world."


	13. Baby and Rest

**Baby – or – A Quiet and Reflection Time For Mom**

Elena sighed as she let herself relax on the couch, littler Alex sleeping on top of her. He had been a handful today, no argument there. It was one of those days that she wished Nate was there to help her out. But he agreed to that book signing for today months ago and there was no getting out of it. She smiled softly as brushed aside some the dark blonde duck fluff that was Alex's hair. The upside with Nate being out of the house that it was quiet. Lately, Nate's editor had been calling for new pages and driving everyone in the house crazy. She felt Alex shiver and as quickly as she could without disturbing him, grabbed a blanket and threw it over them.

She gently kissed the top of Alex's head. A month ago, she and Nate were a mixed bag of emotions; it was like both of them were sent back to the start of the pregnancy. Unsure if they really were ready to be parents, if they were even fit to raise a child! Nate had the worst time trying to cope with all of his emotions at the beginning. He came forward and told her about his parents; Elena at the time felt helpless as Nate told her everything, wishing that she could do more then hold him. But as the months passed and the pregnancy progressed, Nate grew more comfortable and eager to fill the role of dad. Elena knew she would never forget when Nate first saw their son, held him close and promised never to abandon him.

Alex began to whimper, interrupting his mother's musings. Elena watched his tiny fingers begin to curl in and out and knew exactly what that meant. "Sounds like somebody's hungry." She said softly, slowly moving into a sitting position. Elena unbuttoned her shirt as Alex's whimpers slowly turned into cries of hunger. Alex's cries were quickly quieted and Elena began to hum. A glance at the clock told her that Nate would be home soon, hopefully with dinner. Until then, Elena patiently waited for Alex to have his fill.

* * *

><p><strong>Rest – or – Starting to Make Things Right Again<strong>

Elena carefully placed a blanket over Nate's sleeping form; he didn't even twitch as the blanket was placed on him. She was glad he was alive and well and in one piece. Elena sighed as she let herself sit next to him on the bed. If she could, Elena would let Nate get all the sleep he needed before they rescued Sully. But this Marlowe character was dead set and determined to find Iram of the Pillars, probably more so than Nate was. That was probably what was driving Nate to such extremes to find it. Not so much of finishing what T.E. Lawrence and Sir Francis Drake had started, but because of some messed up, unsettled score between Nate and Marlowe.

"Oh Nathan… what have you gotten yourself into this time…?" Elena whispered as let the back of her hand run along Nate's jaw line, the stubble tickling her soft skin.

She tried not to think of how terrified and worried she had been as she watched Nate run off in his drugged state. Elena knew she would have followed him if it hadn't been for Sully. She barely remembered begging Sully to let her go and calling out for her husband. And then, after Sully explained absolutely everything to her, Marlowe's men came and took him away. Elena pushed those thoughts back. She already felt horrible about not chasing after Nate, and then add it top of not even fighting to keep Sully from being taken. She tried not to think about the fight she and Nate had. In a way, that fight was inevitable, but she still felt horrible for letting her anger getting the better of her. Elena tried not to think about how this situation would be different if she just stuck by him.

Elena looked down at her husband again. She knew that he hadn't given up on their relationship. Neither of them had, really. His earlier reluctance at the airport to tell her anything was his unusual way of trying to keep her safe. At that time, she had been annoyed and slightly angered. Now… after what Sully had told her, maybe Nate was right at trying to keep her out of this mess. Sure, she probably would have still try and tag along, but Nate would probably have one less person to worry about.

Another sigh left her lips. Like hell Nate would ever stop worrying about her. He could try and hide how much he cared, how much he worried but Nate always had a horrible poker face. It didn't help when his actions broadcasted the opposite of his façade. It didn't take long for Elena to discover the little things Nate was doing for her after he left the apartment. The bills and rent were always 'magically' paid; money to cover the cost of gas, groceries, and emergency expenses. At first, seeing a large sum of money on her bank statement nearly sent her into a panic. But when she looked over the statement and saw Nate's bank account number and seeing all the transfers into her account… Elena had felt shocked, upset, slightly insulted. She didn't want Nate giving her all of his money, she just wanted him. She just wanted him back. No stupid heirloom ring or a new job or assignment to distract them, just the two of them. Elena did try to call Nate to tell him to stop. She really did, but the furthest she ever could get was punching in the first two numbers of his cell phone.

And then there was the journal Elena gave Nate as a wedding present. She had found it under the bed three weeks after their fight. Roughly six months in his possession and it was nearly full; almost every page contained drawings, sketches of her. Sketches of her hands, the scarring along her left side, sketches of her sleeping… Elena briefly wondered how or why he would forget it before remembering that (according to Nate logic) by not taking it with him, he could focus on this treasure hunt without 'distraction'. Either way, it was now one of the few things Elena had to take with her no matter where she went. She had seen Nate's other journals and none of them were like this. Elena looked over to her bag, knowing exactly where that journal was tucked away. She gently bit her bottom lip. She was tempted to pull the journal out and look through its pages again. Elena looked back to her husband, not wanting him to catch her looking through one of his journals. The embarrassment would be too much for her to bear. If not for her, then more than likely for Nate. Elena was positive that he never intended for her to see this journal, even if she was the one who gave it to him and was the subject of choice.

She gave a quick glance to Nate's sleeping form before looking at the clock. Elena let out a sigh, knowing that she needed rest too. She pulled out her cell phone, setting the alarm before placing it on the bed side table. The bed creaked with her movements causing Nate to stir a little. Elena smiled lightly and started to gently run a hand through his hair.

"I like it when you do that." Nate muttered softly in a husky tone. He stayed still, his eyes remaining shut.

"I know…" she replied, "You should be sleeping. You need it."

Nate didn't respond right away, "So should you…" he looked up at her, his eyes still clouded over with sleep. He looked so tired…

"I was about to come to bed. Go back to sleep, okay?" she started to get off the bed, but was stopped when Nate grabbed her hand.

"Stay." She looked down at him. He looked so desperate; it reminded her of a lost child. Elena could only nod and let herself be guided to lie next to him. He threw his arm around her and pulled her as close as he could. "I've missed you… so much…"

"I've…I've missed you too…" came her quavering reply. She pulled herself even closer, tucking her head underneath his chin.

"I never meant for this to get so out of hand-, " Elena gently placed her fingers over Nate's lips, effectively silencing him.

"Later. When this is all done and over with, we'll sit down and talk about this. Everything." She placed a light kiss on the hollow of his throat, "But now, we get some sleep. And then afterwards we'll rescue Sully." She felt Nate nod before she let herself succumb to sleep. Things would be alright. They would find and rescue Sully, and then she and Nate would do whatever it took to make things right.


	14. 2nd Anniversary and Drake's Fortune

**Second Anniversary – or – New Traditions**

If it was one thing Nate was exceedingly good at in the kitchen, it was making pasta. He easily made everything from scratch and greatly enjoyed it. In fact, Nate just liked cooking in general. It was something he gladly took over after Sully took him in. Sure Sully could make a good meal, but he sucked at making pasta. He could still remember those nights of Sully complaining about how the whole process of pasta from scratch took too damn long and asking why they couldn't just buy the pre-made stuff. They tried that once…well, more like Sully tried to make pasta. The older man had gone out and bought the pre-made stuff. Needless to say, Sully and Nate made a silent agreement that Sully would never try and make pasta again.

"Oh? Is this dinner?" Elena said in place of a greeting as she peaked over his shoulder.

"Hey, didn't hear you come in." Nate took one of her hands and kissed the back of it before turning to face her, "Happy anniversary." Elena smiled and kissed him.

"Happy anniversary to you too, cowboy." She looked over to the stove, "So what's for dinner?"

"Pasta. I've got some garlic bread in the oven and some nice wine," he gave her a quick kiss, "What did you go out for?"

"Oh, just some dessert. If I remember correctly, you are a big fan of doughnuts." She smiled as he laughed.

"Wine and pasta with doughnuts for dessert." Nate kissed her again, "I guess you could set up the table while I finish up dinner?"

"Or I could help you?" Elena asked hopefully. He smiled at her and nodded.

"Sure. I don't see why not." Nate replied, turning back to the stove, "If you could check the bread that would be great. Everything should be done soon." He took a fork and dipped it into the pot the pasta was in, pulling out a few noodles. He took one of the noodles and threw it against the wall, much to Elena's shock.

"Nate-!"

"Welp, pasta's done." He announced, turning off the stove.

"Tossing pasta on the wall tells you that?" Elena asked in disbelief.

"It's sticked to the wall. When it does that, it's done." Nate said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Elena looked up to the wall, just in time to watch the noodle slowly peel itself off the wall and fall onto the stove. She looked back at him as he pulled the pot off the stove. Elena shrugged and opened the oven. She wasn't going to debate with her husband's cooking methods, especially with pasta. After-all, it had been about two years since they had a nice dinner like this.

True to Nate's word, dinner was done quickly and the couple was at the table. Wine was poured and (thanks to Elena's handiwork) candles were lit. Soon they were sitting at the table enjoying their meal in comfortable silence.

"We should do this more often." Nate said before shoving a forkful of pasta in his mouth.

"Or you just need to teach me how to make your pasta." Elena replied.

"That too. You think you're up for making everything from scratch?"

"Can't be harder than fighting our way out of a mess." Elena said jokingly, pouring herself more wine.

"Not if you talk to Sully!" Nate said, making both of them laugh. As their laughter died down, their hands found one another and their fingers entwined. Comfortable silence surrounded them again as they smiled at each other. Slowly though, Nate's smile dropped and his expression turned a little more serious, "We should have this a year ago…" he whispered. They had unfortunately missed their first wedding anniversary thanks to the hunt for Ubar.

"Nate… don't beat yourself over that." Elena said softly, squeezing his hand, "It's over and in the past." She smiled at him before leaning over the table and kissing him; Nate eagerly kissed her back.

"Stop thinking about the past, huh?" Nate supplied after they broke apart.

"For now. Tonight it's just about us. Now, I think it's time for some dessert."

"You mean doughnuts, my dear." Nate said as he got up and began to clear the table. Elena laughed as she followed her husbands' actions. It didn't take too long for the couple to find themselves on the couch, eating doughnuts and watching an old movie.

"Best night in ever." Elena announced as grabbed another cinnamon twist. Nate made a noise of agreement as he pulled her into his lap.

"I think this should be our tradition." He commented, "Hand me another chocolate glaze will ya?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Drake's Fortune<strong>_**, the Book Signing Tour – or – Surprise Visit**

He honestly did not expect Elena to show up. But here she was, currently pinned up against the wall of his hotel room as they kissed each other senseless. He felt her hands slide under his shirt and run up his front. They pulled apart for air and Nate noticed the door was still slightly open. He moaned as Elena began to place kisses from the base of his neck to his jaw line. Nate forgot about the slightly open door as his hands found their way under her shirt and felt the texture of a lace bra.

"Oh~ you're trying to do me in." Nate moaned as he slipped his fingers underneath the bra strap.

"I knew you would like." Elena replied in an airy tone as she lifted his shirt up.

"We should probably close the door before we get any further." Nate said, "Don't want anyone to walk in on us, or get us kicked out." Elena just nodded and impatiently watched him close and lock the door. Nate quickly took off his shirt before they returned to their previous position against the wall.

"You're not going on another book signing tour," Elena growled, "It's too quiet in the apartment without you." She wrapped her legs around his waist.

"I'll be sure to remember that." He whispered as leaned in for another round, "So, let's continue where we left off."

* * *

><p>Nate was vaguely aware of pounding on the door. He was very aware of his naked wife lying next to him. He felt her snuggle closer and let out a sigh of contentment. Nate could now hear the voice of his editor Fran joining in with the pounding on the door. He let out a grunt as he threw a leg over Elena's legs. There was no way he was leaving this bed.<p>

"DRAKE! GET YOUR ASS OUT OF BED!" Nate frowned. Sounded like Fran got out of the wrong side of the bed.

"Go make her shut up." Elena grumbled.

"I don't have to be anywhere till one. She can live."

"She isn't going to stop until you tell her to leave." Elena muttered.

Nate sighed in defeat, "I'm still not getting out of bed." Elena let out a small giggle. She rolled herself on top of Nate and reached over to the nightstand, grabbing Nate's cell phone.

"There. Call her." She instructed, placing the cell phone in his hand. He quirked an eyebrow as he looked up at Elena, who had settled herself on top of his hips.

"Alright, I'll call her." He punched in Fran's number, hoping she would hear her phone over her 'knocking'. Nate looked back up at Elena to see her with a small, almost secretive smile on her face. He knew that she was up to something. What that was, that could be anyone's guess. The pounding on the door stopped as Fran noticed her phone ringing.

"Good to know you're awake." Fran growled angrily, "What the hell is taking so long?"

"Fran, we don't have to be at the book store until one. Calm down." Elena suddenly started lightly run her hands up and down his chest.

"It's ten thirty-five! You haven't eaten yet, and it's going to take about half an hour to get up to the place and another half an hour to set up!" Fran ranted, her voice could be heard muffled from behind the door.

Nate took hold of one of Elena's hands in an attempt to stop to her, "I'll call room service. Don't worry, we'll be on time." Elena leaned down and started place open-mouth kisses along his collarbone. He bit his lip, fighting back a groan.

"Nathan? Are you listening to me?" Shit, he missed whatever his editor had just said to him.

"Sorry. Say that again?" Elena began kissing up his neck and to behind his ear, pressing herself against him.

"Who the hell is going to pay for it?" Elena gently bit his earlobe, making his mind go temporarily blank.

"What?"

"Room service?" Fran filled in, her tone filled with slight annoyance and disbelief. She never dealt with married men it seemed like.

"Me, of course." Nate replied. He could feel Elena's smirk as she rolled her hips against his. Nate couldn't hold back the moan from that action. Fran's ranting stop abruptly, he could almost picture the blush that was forming on her face.

"Uh… W-What's-?" Elena grabbed the phone from Nate's hands.

"Don't worry Fran; I'll be sure to get him there on time." Elena said before snapping the phone closed. She gave her husband a smirk as they heard Fran's hurried footsteps fade away.

"I knew I married you for a reason." Nate said as he pulled her hips a little closer.

"I think you need to order breakfast, first. Then we can have some fun." Elena whispered in his ear, making him shiver.

"'Kay" was Nate's reply as he reached for the hotel room phone, "Whatever you say."

Elena kissed him, "Bacon, waffles and eggs for me please. I'm going to go clean up while you're ordering." She rolled off of him and headed towards the bathroom.

"What about fun time?" Nate called out to her.

"We don't have time for a quickie, breakfast, and to get ready for your book signing." She explained as she walked into the bathroom.

"Can at least join you?"

"Order room service, then we'll see!" He could hear the smirk in her voice.

"You're a horrible tease!" Nate was rewarded with a laugh and the showering turning on. He shook his head and dialed room service. It wasn't much of an effort, but at least he tried.


	15. First Day and Drake's Deception

**First Day – or – Preschool? No Thanks**

"I don't wanna!" Sophie cried, large tears rolling down her face, "I wanna stay with you and Daddy!" She clung tighter to Elena's leg.

"Sophie…sweetie…" Elena sighed. She didn't remember having this much trouble with Alex. Hell, if she remembered correctly Alex had run into the building, eager to go play with the other kids. Sure he had to have a little encouragement, like all children did when starting preschool, but he took to it easier than Sophie did at the moment. "It'll be fun, you'll get to make new friends and play, draw pictures…" Sophie just vehemently shook her head, "Please sweet-heart?"

"I don't wanna," came the muffled reply, "I don't wanna go." Elena sighed as she listened to her daughter sniffle.

"Sophie, it's going to be okay!" She kneeled down, gently pulling Sophie off her leg. She wiped away Sophie's tears, "It'll be alright…" It broke Elena's heart to see her daughter cry, to see either of her children cry.

"Please don't make me go." Sophie begged, another wave of tears starting up.

"Sophie, it's just for a little while. You're going to have so much fun! It's going to be fine." Elena tried, but Sophie just shook her head again. She was at a lost at what to do. She didn't want to push Sophie too hard, but this was step she had to take. "Can you at least try it? For me and Daddy?"

"Do-do I have to?" Sophie sniffled.

"Just for today. If you don't like, you don't have to go back, okay?" she watched Sophie looked over at the preschool building and then back at her.

"Everyone isn't gonna make fun of me?" The question baffled Elena. Was that what this was all about? Elena wanted to bang her head against something solid and hard.

"No~! The other kids aren't going to be making fun of you! And if anyone does, you know what you do, right?" Sophie shook her head with a sniff, "You go find and tell a teacher, okay?"

"…'kay."

Elena smiled at her daughter, brushing back a stray strand of Sophie's hair behind her ear. She was rewarded with a small smile. "There we go. There's that smile." She hugged her daughter and kissed the crown of her head. "Alright, let's go in." Elena stood up, holding one of Sophie's small hands in her own.

"Just for today?" Sophie asked quietly, looking up at her mother.

"Only if you don't like it. If you do like it, you'll get to come back." Elena replied, giving her an encouraging smile. Sophie nodded, tightening her grip on Elena's hand. "You'll be okay, you'll see." She led Sophie inside the preschool.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Drake's Deception<strong>_**, the Book Signing Tour – or – a Rough Night and a Bad Morning Turned Good**

Nate tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable in the hotel bed. He pulled two of the pillows to his left, lining them up against his body. Book signing tours sucked. He didn't mind the traveling, but it sucked not always having Elena there with him. "Stupid New York Times…" Nate grumbled, "Stupid best sellers list…" He tossed an arm and a leg over the pillows.

It wasn't the same. Elena wasn't there to return his embrace, tease him with light kisses and touches. And then there was Alex, just barely a year-old… Nate sighed, feeling that was something else was missing from his current sleeping set-up. He sat up and looked around the room. Nate rolled himself out of bed and grabbed a short, round pillow on the chair. He stared at it for a moment before returning to the bed, placing the small pillow between himself and his row of "Elena" pillows.

Once again, he tossed an arm and a leg over the pillows. It was bit better now. He tried to ignore the lack of warmth from the pillows as he closed his eyes. Nate pictured himself back in his own bed, Elena beside him with Alex nestled between the two of them. This was going to be a long two weeks.

* * *

><p>Nate groaned as the alarm went off. He took a pillow and pulled it over his over his head, as if the action would make the alarm clock stop. Then his cell phone started ringing. "Arugh! Alright! Alright! I'm up!" He slammed his hand down on the alarm clock before grabbing his phone. Nate looked at the caller ID, unsurprised when he saw his editor's name. "Yes?"<p>

"Well good morning to you too." Fran replied, "Ready for another day of fans and sharpies?"

"Please tell me there's a free breakfast downstairs." He groaned.

"There is, don't worry."

"With bacon?"

"I've got enough bacon on the table to give three grown men a heart attack. I didn't grab anything else for you; I figured that you can do that on your own." Fran answered. Nate muttered something positive sounding, "You okay?"

"Rough night is all. I'll be down in a few." He said, finishing the call. After a quick shower, shave, and a change of clothes, Nate was downstairs. He easily spotted the table Fran was at as he grabbed waffles and sausages. Nate sighed as he plopped himself down at the table, pulling a large plate filled with bacon towards him.

"Good of you to join." Fran said, briefly looking up from her news paper, "You'll have some time to do whatever you like after the signing today. And then tomorrow we'll leave for Austin." Nate nodded, quietly munching on a mouthful of syrup drenched waffles. "You know we can always cancel a few signings if you want." Nate looked at her like she had grown another head, "What?"

"I'm just wondering if the Body Snatchers visited you last night." Fran gave a slightly befuddled, confused look, "You know? Like the movie…_Invasion of the Body Snatchers_…?" Fran slowly shook her head, "Make feel older than I am why ya don't?"

"You do realize you set yourself up for that one, right?" Nate just shrugged, "I am serious though. If you feel like we need to wrap this tour up early, then that's what we'll do." She took a swig of orange juice.

Nate sighed, "Fran, don't worry about it…I'll live…"

"Nathan, you're a father now. I would be worried if you _didn't_ want to go home and be with your family." They were quiet for awhile; Nate ran a hand through his hair. Barely on the road for three days and he was already ready to call it quits, not that he would that aloud. Nate briefly wished he was back to treasure hunting for a living, but the thought was quickly squashed as he thought of Elena and Alex. Nate knew if he had continued on with that lifestyle that he would probably be dead now. If not dead, then absolutely miserable and alone.

"We'll see." Nate said, "I'll need to talk it over with Elena." Fran nodded and went back to her paper. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, signaling that he just received a text message. Nate pulled out his phone and opened up the text. He was happy to see that it was from Elena and to make it even better, it was a picture text.

_Good morning! Hope the hotel has some doughnuts! If not, here's some just for you._

Nate looked at the picture Elena sent him and immediately started laughing. It was of a diaper-clad Alex with the bakery box on top of his head, an assortment of doughnuts surrounded him. It looked like Alex had tipped over the whole box in order to get one particular kind of doughnut, a chocolate glazed doughnut covered in rainbow sprinkles.


	16. Easter With the Drakes'

**Easter With the Drakes' – or – Easter Surprise**

"Did you have to put eggs up in the trees?" Elena asked as she and Nate watched their two children run around the yard, looking for the colourful plastic eggs Nate had hidden.

"They're not very high up, don't worry. " Nate chuckled, "Plus the two of them climb that tree all the time." Elena nodded in agreement. Alex and Sophie started running towards them, both of their baskets filled to be the top. "Nice work you two! But I think you missed a few." Elena held back her laughter as both children gave them looks of disbelief.

"But we already looked everywhere!" Alex cried.

"Yeah! Where else would they be?" Sophie chimed in. Elena pointed towards the tree and laughed as the pair raced each other to it.

"See, they're having fun. They'll be fine." Nate said, giving his wife a peck on the cheek, "I'm gonna go ahead and start making breakfast. That okay with you?"

"Go ahead. I'll keep an eye on them." Elena gave him a smile before returning her attention to Alex and Sophie. Alex was already up on the first branch and shimming his way towards a set of eggs that Nate had set at the end of the branch. Sophie was calling up to him, telling him to be careful. She watched as Alex reached the plastic eggs and started tossing them down to Sophie, who caught them in her basket.

"Is that all of them?" Sophie asked.

"Yup!" Alex replied and he started shimming back towards the center of the tree.

"Be careful, okay?" Elena called out to him.

"I am being careful! Geez Mom!" he called back, grumbling the last bit. Elena just sighed and shook her head. Sophie had decided to leave her post at the tree and ran over to her mother, eager to show Elena all the eggs she had collected.

"Look! Did I do well?" Sophie eagerly asked, holding up her basket.

Elena smiled and bent down to Sophie's eye level, "You did great!" She ruffled Sophie's hair, "Now why don't you go in and you and Dad can start counting them?" Sophie nodded and quickly rushed into the house. Then she heard a loud thump and a cry of pain. Elena quickly looked up and saw Alex on the ground, clutching one of his arms. She called out his name and ran to him.

"It really hurts." Alex groaned, biting back tears.

Elena made gentle shushing sounds and helped him sit up before calling out for Nate. "Here, let me see… okay?" She gently pulled his left arm out of his grip and brought it towards her. It was definitely broken, a clean break at least. That was a good… Elena knew that a bone poking out of Alex's skin would have probably horrified him.

"Mom…?" Alex's voice quavered a bit. Elena looked away from his arms and was unsurprised to see his face very pale. "Is it broken?"

"I'm afraid so." Elena said softly, "It'll be okay, sweetie." She heard hurried footsteps and took a look behind her to see Nate jogging up to them.

"What happened?" Nate asked, concern colouring his tone.

"I fell while I was trying to get down." Alex explained, "I didn't mean to."

"I know buddy," Nate said, making Elena move over so that way he could take a look. Elena gnawed on her lower lip as she watched her husband examine Alex's arm. "It's not too bad," he gave Alex a reassuring smile, "Should heal up pretty quick."

"Do we have to go to the hospital?" Alex asked.

"'fraid so." Nate replied. He looked to Elena, "I'll go get Sophie and the car. Can you get Alex to the car?"

"I can mange." She helped Alex to his feet as Nate jogged back into the house. "Come on Alex, one step at a time." He was trembling a little and trying not to look at his broken arm.

"I'm gonna have to get a cast, aren't I?" Alex asked quietly.

"It's not so bad." Elena assured him, "You'll get to pick out the colour it'll be and all your friends will be able to sign it." She gently rubbed his back as they reached the steps of the back porch, "Don't worry. You're just taking a step into part of the family legacy. Trust me, me and your grandfather can tell you about all the bones your father's broken."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. I'll tell you about the time your father and I went on a hiking trip and broke his leg sometime." Elena gave him a kind smile, "But for now, let's get you to the car and we'll get your arm taken care of."

* * *

><p><em>A little late, but I thought 'Why the hell not?'. <em>__

_Alex's reaction, by the way, is based off my reaction when I broke my right wrist right before the start of 4th grade. Apparently my Dad is still proud of how I didn't shed a single tear during the whole process of him confirming my wrist was broken, walking to the car, and getting to the hospital and having the cast put on._ _According to him, my Aunt (at my age then) would have been bawling her eyes out. Especially if it looked like how mine was. It seriously was like bunny hops on a roller-coaster. _


	17. Thunder and Lighnting and the Storm

**-Thunder and Lightning – or – The Effect of Thunder Storms on Small Children**

Elena sighed as a bright flash of lightning and a loud crack of thunder. Nate barely stirred by the light and noise. Elena knew though that their three and six year old would most likely be awake already and headed for her and Nate's bed. Another flash of lightning and crack of thunder and Elena couldn't help but smile when she heard Sophie squeak. The door creaked open and Alex peeked his head in.

"Mom? Dad?" Alex quietly called out into the room. Elena looked over to the door to see Alex holding onto one of Sophie's hands while she clutched onto one of her plush toys in the other.

"Hey you two. Did the storm wake you up?" Elena smiled as both children nodded and cringed with another round of lightning and thunder. "Come on you two." Alex and Sophie quickly hopped in the bed and settled themselves between their parents. Elena pulled some pillows out from under Nate's head and gave them to Sophie and Alex.

"Why isn't Dad awake?" Alex asked as Sophie snuggled close to her father.

"Well, Dad sleeps like a rock; he can sleep through almost anything." Elena explained.

"Really?" Sophie whimpered as a roll of thunder shook to house.

"Really. Trust me sweetie, I'd be worried if he was awake too." Elena yawned and placed an arm over both of them, "Now let's try and get some sleep, okay?" Quiet whispers of agreement were heard and soon, even with storm passing over the house, Elena and her two children fell asleep.

* * *

><p>The first thing Nate was aware of as he slowly awoke was the soft pitter-patter of rain on the window. The second thing he was aware of was something small was pressed up against his side. As Nate slowly opened his eyes, he was greeted by the sight of Alex curled up next to Elena and Sophie tucked under his arm. Nate sighed as he got up, doing his best not to wake Sophie.<p>

"Good morning, cowboy…" Elena greeted softly. She looked tired but she was wide awake.

"Good morning to you too, beautiful." Nate carefully leaned down and kissed her, "I see you had a little sleep over without telling me."

Elena laughed quietly, "I guess that means you didn't hear that storm last night."

"That bad, huh?" He looked over to Sophie as she rolled over with a small murmur.

"It was pretty good one. You missed out." She smiled as she watched him readjusted the covers over Alex and Sophie.

"No doubt it scared the crap out of these two." Nate chuckled. Elena nodded in response with a sigh of contentment. She took hold of his hand gently running her thumb over the back of his hand.

"But it helps when they have such a strong man as their father. They know that you'll be able to keep them safe, even when you're fast asleep." Elena whispered, her smile growing as she felt him squeeze her hand.

"Also helps when they have a mother of who's just as strong." Nate replied, returning her smile. He leaned down to kiss her again, but was stopped by Elena placing her finger tips over his lips.

"Hold it cowboy. Not while their kids in the bed." Elena laughed as Nate pouted.

"Alright, alright, I get it." He kissed the finger tips in front of him, "I'll go make breakfast. Waffles for everybody." Nate slid out of bed and pulled on his thick woolen socks over his feet.

"That's my man. Trained just the way I like 'em!" Elena called out as he walked out of the room. He made a ridiculous looking "kissy-face" (as their children would call it) and Elena threw one of her pillows at him. It missed and hit the door frame instead, "Just go make breakfast studly!"

* * *

><p><strong>The Calm Before the Storm, and the Storm – or – The Night After the Dress Shopping, Day One and Dress Shopping, Day Two<strong>

Nate was unsure what to do at this exact moment. After what was apparently a disastrous day of wedding dress shopping and an awkward dinner with Elena's mother and aunt, all that she wanted to do was watch Korean dramas the moment she got home. Well, first she changed into her favorite set of night-clothes and sent him out to buy a large tub of Tin Roof Sundae ice cream. And thanks to being able to access Hulu on the PS3, Elena was silently crying as they watched one of her new and current favorite Korean drama.

Why she liked these shows, he probably would never figure out. At least K-dramas (as Elena and apparently every other fan called them), the ones Elena watched dealt more in history. Sure he wasn't a big fan of some of the over-acting, the constant love triangles, or the back-stabbing bitches that were a part of any soap opera, but Nate did enjoy some aspects of them. They were basically a way for him to keep in touch with Korean history, which he was willing to admit was slightly lacking.

Elena sighed as the current episode finished and started preparing the start up the next episode. She scooted closer and placed one of her hands near his. Nate got the message and took her hand in his. That was another reason why he didn't mind watching K-dramas with his wife. She became wonderfully affectionate after one of their little marathons.

"Can we just do this tomorrow?" Elena asked, her eyes still on the screen.

"What? Sit on the couch in our PJ's and watch K-dramas?" Nate replied. He thought for a moment, propping his feet up on the table, "I think your mother and aunt would try and murder me if we did."

"We'll lock the door then." Elena pulled the blanket down from the back of the couch and tossed it over herself.

"Chloe might help them."

"You know that won't happen."

Nate nodded as he and Elena turned their attention back to the TV now that the last episode recap was done. They sat comfortably in silence, watching the forth episode start up. "There is no way that baby would still be alive."

"Shush Nate." She whispered, gently hitting his arm.

"I'm just saying-"

"Keep this up and we're not stopping by the bakery tomorrow morning." Elena threatened. Nate just nodded and kissed the top of her head, deciding that he could put up with another couple of episodes. After-all, tomorrow was going to be a long day for both of them.

* * *

><p>Nate tried his best to ignore the harsh stares coming from his mother-in-law, Coraline, and Elena's Aunt Cassidy. Maybe he should have said 'no' last night. But here he was, patiently waiting for his wife to come out of the dressing room. Chloe shot him a sympatric smile before returning to messing around with her phone. Nate looked over to the other two women, who were engaged in a very quiet and apparently private conversation. This was going to be a very long day, he could tell already.<p>

"Here's dress number one!" the consultant called out to them. Nate was unsure if he should laugh or not; out came Elena in a large, blindingly white, poufy ball gown. "This is your pick Mom."

"Oh…! You look so pretty." Coraline gushed, Aunt Cassidy nodding in agreement.

Elena looked over to Chloe, "Sunshine, you know what almost happened the last time I voiced my opinion on your mother's dress choice."

"And I'm pretty sure I know what you're thinking anyway." Elena replied. She looked over to Nate.

"And what does the mister think?" the consultant asked Nate. He looked over to Elena's relations and then looked back to Elena.

Nate stood up and walked over to stand next to his wife, "To be honest, I have no clue what to think of this…" he lifted up a layer of tulle, trying to find an adjective that wouldn't offend Coraline too much, "…thing." Coraline frowned at him, "Plus, I don't think I can even pick you up in this get-up."

"What? Have you gone soft on me?" Elena teased. Nate gave her a playful glare before he picked her up. Elena gave a joy filled squeal and began to laugh as Nate tried to a hold of her lower half.

"See? No good!" he laughed, "There's so much fabric I can't get a proper grip!" Nate set her down, "But the million dollar question is if you like it."

Elena looked at him for a moment before answering, "I hate it." She said proudly, making Nate and Chloe laugh.

"Alright then! Let's go put something else on!" the consultant said cheerfully ushering Elena back towards the dressing room. Nate just shook his head and went back to his seat. He could feel the glares from his mother-in-law and the aunt. Now he was back to feeling uncomfortable again.

It wasn't too much longer until Elena came out again, this time wearing what the consultant called a 'mermaid' dress. It was over the top sparkly with fake-gems and embroidery, showed off her curves with little to the imagination and the neckline was quite low. Nate looked over to Chloe who grinned and nodded at him. Yup, definitely a Chloe pick.

"It shows off too much." Aunt Cassidy remarked.

"How is this a wedding dress?" Coraline said, adding in her two cents.

"I think she looks amazing." Chloe commented, a smug smirk on her face. Elena smiled and shook her head.

"It's nice. I don't know about the bling though." Elena looked over to Nate. He was blatantly starring at her hindquarters. "I think I know what your thoughts are Nathan."

"Huh?" Nate snapped out of his revere at the sound of his name, "Oh! I, uh, think it looks good." Elena and Chloe laughed at him while the two older women just rolled their eyes at his response.

"It is nice, but I would like to able to walk in it. Sorry Chloe." Elena said.

"Don't worry. At least you tried it on." Chloe looked over to Nate, "He didn't pick one out, did he?"

"I don't think so." The consultant replied, "Do mind picking one out?"

Nate was a little shocked at the request. He thought he was here for moral support and to keep Elena's opinions from getting steam-rolled by her family members. He knew next to nothing in _modern_ day fashion for women. "Uh… If that's what Elena wants me to do." She nodded, "I guess I'm gonna try and pick out a dress." Elena hugged him as he got up from his seat before heading back to the dressing room.

The consultant was back soon and she guided him over to the dresses in Elena's price range. Nate decided not to spend an eternity trying to pick out a dress for his wife. He grabbed the first dress that looked like it wasn't made with a hundred yards of fabric and didn't have a large amount of bling. The consultant looked shocked that Nate didn't even really look at the dress he had pulled off the rack, but none the less she took to the dressing room.

"So what ya grab for the misses?" Chloe asked as Nate took his seat.

"Something off-white and lacey." Nate replied. All three women looked at him like he had grown a second head, "What?"

"Can you be any more generic in the description Nate?" Chloe shook her head.

"I know it's not a ball-gown and it has sleeves." Nate expanded, "Or at least I think it has sleeves." Chloe let an exasperated sigh and Aunt Cassidy said something to Coraline before everyone went back to being quiet. Nate shrugged as he settled himself back into the chair. He was guy, how was he supposed to know about things like this?

It didn't take too long for Elena to come out in his choice. "Looks like somebody did a good job." Chloe whispered to Nate. The dress was definitely lacey and had three-quarters sleeves. It was nicely fitted with a little flare at the bottom.

"Good work." Elena said, smiling from ear to ear. He smiled back at her, getting up from his seat as she waved him up to stand next to her. "I like it," she looped her arm through his, "and it's super under budget."

"That takes the cake right there, huh?" Nate smirked.

"It's just one of the reasons."

"Oh? Can we hear another?"

"I can walk in it," Elena fiddled with the skirt with her free hand, "and I don't feel like I'm swimming in a sea in fabric."

"It feels a little plain." Coraline commented, Aunt Cassidy nodding in agreement, "I liked the first dress better."

Elena and Nate sighed; he squeezed her hand as she let her head rest on his shoulder. It very obvious now that the two older women weren't going to let go of the idea of the princess dress. Elena looked up at Nate who did his best to give her an encouraging smile. She was torn between appeasing her mother and getting the dress she actually wanted. Another sigh left Elena's lips, "I guess I can try it on again."

Nate placed a kiss on her temple, "Do what feels right." He whispered in her ear before she headed back to the dressing room. He scratched the back of his head as he watched Elena walk off. Nate just wanted her to be happy with whatever she decided to go with. He just hoped that she wasn't pressured into buying something that she didn't like.

When Elena came out, she barely stood in front of them for thirty seconds before turning around. "And that's it!" she called out.

"Aw! But Elena!" Aunt Cassidy cried out, "It's so beautiful."

"No! It's a no!" Elena did her best to scurry away in the large dress.

"Can you at least say why?" Coraline asked. Elena paused and turned around, a frown present on her face.

"Well, like I'm sure I said before, I feel like a cupcake and swimming in fabric. I don't like the colour and I don't like the fact that I can't really get through a door-way without issues."

"Well what's wrong with the colour?"

"It's overly white. I don't think my tiles in my bathroom are this white!" Elena looked down at the skirt and looked back at her mother, "Plus, even if this wasn't a vowel renewal, white is out of the question for me."

"Elena, we didn't need to know that." Aunt Cassidy groaned.

"They are already married and have been for awhile. What did you expect?" Chloe stated.

Elena nodded before turning to the consultant, "I'll take the third dress."

* * *

><p><em>Before you ask, I do watch Korean dramas. The one Nate and Elena are watching (called Ja Myung Go) is on hulu! I'm new to them, but if you guys have any suggestions, feel free to send them my way.<em>


	18. Playtime! and Dad Comes Home

**Play Time! and Dad Comes Home – or – Beating Up on Aunt and Uncle, and a Father Becoming a Little More Attractive**

"You're gonna get it Ice King!" Alex yelled. Charlie whipped his head around just in time to see his nephew flying towards him and tackle him to the ground.

"Wha-?" Charlie could hear Chloe laughing somewhere nearby. Charlie tried to move Alex, who was currently throwing weak punches at Charlie's sides.

"Let's go Jake!" Alex cried, calling over the two-year-old family dog Snow. The small dog ran over and began barking excitedly at the 'fighting' pair. "You're gonna pay for kidnapping all those princesses Ice King!"

"Agh! Alex-!" Charlie looked over to Chloe who was still laughing at the whole scene, "Chloe! A little help would be appreciated!" He winced as Alex hit a particularly sensitive spot.

"Maybe if you fight back, I'll consider it!" Chloe replied through her laughter. Charlie would have said something if Alex's knee didn't just make contact with his stomach. "C'mon tough guy! Fight back!"

Snow decided to join in on the torture of Uncle Charlie and started to (playfully) tug on the bottom of his pant leg. Alex continued to wrestle with Charlie, still calling him Ice King and calling Snow Jake. Chloe's laughter died down to chuckles as she started looking around for Sophie. She knew that her niece was around her somewhere around here. Chloe headed back into the house to see if Sophie was in her bedroom.

"Sophie?" Chloe called out into the house. No reply came and Chloe started to head up stairs, "Sophie? Angel-cake?" Still no reply and Chloe started to worry a little. She figured the little six-year-old would be out with her brother, beating up on Charlie. Chloe reached Sophie's bedroom. The door was slightly opened and the room appeared empty. Gently rapping on the door, Chloe called out into the room. She peeked her head in and looked around the room. It didn't seem like Sophie was in here… Chloe slowly opened the door and was startled when it bumped into a large, cardboard box. It looked like it once housed a refrigerator and appeared to be the perfect hiding spot for anyone Sophie's size and age.

Chloe entered the room and closed the door behind her as she bent down to look inside the giant cardboard box. All the way, in the back of the box, she saw Sophie. It looked like she was asleep; a large looking book was at her feet and a strange looking plush toy was wrapped in her arms. For a moment Chloe debated if she should crawl in and put Sophie in her bed. Surely a bed was more comfortable than a cardboard box on carpet. Chloe made a decision and reached in the box, grapping the book first and setting it aside before crawling in to grab Sophie. The little girl let out a murmur as Chloe half dragged, half picked up and moved her out of the box.

"Aunt Chloe?" Sophie asked sleepily as Chloe set her on the bed.

"Hey there," Chloe brushed back some of Sophie's hair, "You fell asleep in your box."

"Yeah…"

"You know, I thought you would be out there helping your big brother beat up Uncle Charlie." Chloe frowned a little when Sophie shrugged, "Are you feeling okay?"

Sophie nodded before looking around the bed, "Where's Hambo?" It took Chloe a moment to realize that Sophie was referring to odd looking plush toy that slipped from Sophie's grip while she was moved to the bed. Chloe took a look around the room and found 'Hambo' lying on the floor.

She quickly picked up the toy and handed it to Sophie, "There he is." Her niece smiled as she pulled the toy close. Chloe ruffled Sophie's hair, earning a giggle from her. Sophie gave Chloe a questioning look as she stopped and placed the back of her hand on Sophie's forehead, "Oh, you're feeling a little warm. A little too warm…" Chloe muttered, "I'll be right back."

Chloe rushed to the bathroom to find a thermometer. Elena was going to kill her if Sophie became ill on her watch. Sophie hardly ever got sick! Why did she have to choose now? The day Nate was coming home from California from promoting whatever book of his got turned into video game! Chloe let out a triumphant 'ha!' when she found the thermometer and was quick to head back to Sophie's room. Unfortunately, to Chloe's surprise as she re-entered the room Sophie was nowhere to be found. She groaned. This was not happening to her!

"Sophie! This isn't funny. Auntie does not want to play hide-n-seek at this moment!" Chloe looked in the box to find it empty. _Maybe the closet?_ She quickly got to her feet and hurried over to the closet door, opening it up. Chloe swore under her breath when she didn't see Sophie. "Angel-cake! Please come out."

"Here I am Ice Queen!" Sophie shouted. Chloe quickly turned around to see Sophie standing on the bed in her full adventurer costume, strange white bunny-ear hat and all, "You can't escape now!"

"Wha-?" was all Chloe could get out before Sophie hurled herself off the bed and tackled her to the ground.

"This is for yankin' my heart gut!" Sophie started trying to beat up Chloe.

"Hey! Cut it out!" Chloe made an attempt to grab the small child, "Argh! You little tomboy! Hold still!" All of the sudden, Sophie jumped off her, "What the heck Sophie? Did you fake being sick for a sneak attack!"

Sophie suddenly held up Chloe's wallet, "Now you can't use your powers Ice Queen!" and with that she ran out of the room. Chloe just stared at where Sophie had been standing before pulling herself off the floor. Leave it to Nate and Elena's kids to trick both her and Charlie into a false sense of normal.

* * *

><p>Elena looked up at Nate, her smile from ear to ear. He pulled her closer as they walked up the driveway, "It's good to be home."<p>

"It's good to have you home. The kids missed you." Elena said with a happy sigh.

"Just the kids?" he teased. Elena chuckled and stopped him for a kiss.

"Well, I'm pretty sure the dog missed you too." Her smile grew (if that was possible) and brought herself closer.

Nate gave her a lop-sided smirk, "I'm pretty sure my wife missed me too." She cupped his cheek, returning his smirk.

"I'm sure she did," Elena murmured, "I think she would like to know exactly how much you missed her."

"I thought I did a pretty good job at the airport," he replied, his voice turning husky, "As well as I could in a public place."

"Then I guess you'll have to tell me tonight." Elena felt his hands travel down and rest on the swell of her hips, "Maybe even show me."

Nate let out a chuckle, leaning in closer, "Maybe…" Their faces were inches apart now, "Actually, I think I'm more than willing to show you." Elena's smile grew again and she closed the distance between them. Warmth flooded her, her toes curled, and she couldn't help but let out a small moan as Nate pressed her against him and deepen their kiss. His one of his hands started to wander upwards, sliding under her shirt and rested on her scarred side. Elena shuddered as Nate started to trace her scars and pulled away; she let out a shaky breath and placed a hand over his wandering one.

"Save it for later cowboy," Elena said with a playful look of disapproval, "I'm sure Charlie and Chloe would like to be relieved of their babysitting duties." She grabbed his carry-on bag and started walking again towards the house; Nate's hurried footsteps soon came.

"You know you started that round," Nate said as he plucked the bag from her grasp. Elena rolled her eyes as she opened the front door.

She was about to say something when they heard the sliding back door open and loud footsteps echoed through the house. "Get back here!" they heard Charlie shout, "Chloe! Grab him! The little bugger's got my wallet!"

"Hurry Finn! Jake! They're teaming up!" Sophie cried. Nate and Elena heard feet sliding across the tile floor of the kitchen, Snow barking excitedly over the commotion, and more feet running down the stairs.

"Get back here you little monsters!" Chloe yelled.

The parents of said little monsters looked at each other, Elena shaking her head a little as Nate shrugged and headed into the house. In a way, they should have expected this. Alex and Sophie always were more rambunctious with their aunt and uncle, and probably would be for quite some time.

"I think we should let them know we're back before they break something." Elena suggested as they heard a loud thump, followed by Charlie letting a string of half-curses.

"Sounds like a plan that won't fall apart," Nate replied, "GUESS WHO'S HOME!" he shouted as Elena closed the door behind them. Loud squeals of joy were let out and soon, what sounded like a mini-stamped was headed their direction. Snow was the first to win the race, jumping eagerly and rolling around Nate's feet. "Hey there fuzz-ball," Nate greeted as he ruffled up the dog's fur.

"Daddy!" Sophie all but catapulted into Nate, Alex not too far behind, unintentionally mimicking his sister. He caught them both (even if he did stumble a little and ran into the door), laughing as they started talking about how much they missed him and what they did while he was gone. Elena pulled out her camera and quickly took a picture of the three. She looked behind her to see Chloe and Charlie trying to catch their breath.

"Thanks for watching the kids," Elena said, "Hope you guys didn't have too much trouble with them."

Chloe huffed, "They're defently your kids." Elena laughed, "Can you tell us why they took our wallets?"

"Did they call you 'Ice King' or 'Ice Queen'?" Charlie and Chloe nodded, "Then they took your wallets because you don't have crowns." The two gave her a confused look, "Like the Ice King from _Adventure Time_. Apparently the crown he wears gives him his magic ice powers, and since neither one of you wear crowns…" Charlie and Chloe nodded slowly, not really getting it. Elena let out another laugh as she turned back to see Nate start pulling his souvenirs for Alex and Sophie out of his bag.

"This, is for you little man," Nate pulled out a fake sword and handed it to Alex.

"Cool! Is it real?" Alex asked as he swung it around.

"Nope, just foam."

"Aw, man. It's still cool though! Thanks Dad!" he protested a little when Nate pulled him into a hug and gave him a noogie.

"Did you find anything for me, Daddy?" Sophie was bouncing on her heels and clutching Hambo close, eager to see what her father had gotten for her.

"Yes I did, and think you'll really like it." Nate chuckled as he pulled out Sophie's gift. He pulled out a large, cat-looking plush toy and Sophie's eyes immediately lit-up.

"Cake!" she held out her arms, eager to hold her new plush-toy. Nate let out a laugh as he handed her Cake. Sophie hugged it tightly before giving him an equally tight hug, "Thank you so much Daddy!"

"You're welcome, sweet-heart." Nate kissed the top of her head, "I'm glad you like." He looked up at Elena and smiled at her. She smiled back, happily taking in the sight of her youngest and husband. People were right, seeing your man caring for his child was probably one of the most attractive things for a woman.


	19. Couch Talk and A Change of Plans

**Couch Talk – or – How to Deter a Pregnant Woman's Wrath**

He knew that look. Nathan Drake was in trouble and in danger of sleeping on the couch. And judging by that impressive scowl on Elena's face, banishment to the couch looked like it could last for a good week, if not two. Nate quickly started to rack his memories to try and figure out what his most recent memories to try and figure out what his most recent offence could be. He was pretty sure he hadn't done anything to invoke Elena's wrath; whether it was hormonal-induced wrath or average, could-piss-off-any-married-woman wrath could be anyone's guess. But Nate knew that trying to reason with his wife (or perhaps with any pregnant woman) was and would be a losing battle. He went back to thinking of possible offences. He hadn't _completely_ taken over the household chores, despite Dr. Princess's orders for Elena to stay off her feet. After-all, Nate remembered how Elena was while she was recovering in Tibet. The moment the doctor had removed Elena's stitches, she stubbornly refused to stay in bed; practically refused to do anything a doctor said.

Nate's train of thought was interrupted as Elena thrust a collection of papers in front of him. It took him a moment to realize that it was his manuscript of their last adventure before calling it quits. Well… the start of his manuscript. This could end be bad…

"Wanna explain why _this_ is in here?" Elena asked, her voice dripping with venom. Nate carefully took the pages and glanced over them. His eyes widen when he realized that the pages Elena handed to him contained their…ah… 'talking-it-over' moment. Okay, so it was more like him barging into Elena's temporary apartment (who was terrified that it was one of Marlowe's men coming to grab her next) and getting knocked out by her right hook. Once he woke up, there had been a small, but important, conversation about how Nate was quitting the treasure hunting business for good and he was never leaving Elena until hell froze and pigs learned how to fly. And after re-declaring of feelings and love for one another, Elena had locked the door and they commenced what was pretty much their unofficial second honeymoon.

He hadn't really meant to write it down, but it was the first thing that came to his mind when he looked back to that journey. So being the first thing he remembered, Nate wrote it down as a starting point. He looked up at Elena, whose foot was tapping impatiently for an answer. "It's only a temporary section?" Nate ventured, waiting for impact.

"You're damn right it is." Elena growled. Nate felt a shiver go down his spine as her eyes narrowed at him. He briefly wondered how he could be terrified of a woman who was three and an half weeks away from delivering a baby. Then that small voice in the back of his head (which tended to sound a lot like Sully) reminded him that the woman was his wife and the baby was his and that he was more than willing to become her punching bag if she wanted it.

Nate looked down at the pages again and briefly wondered why he printed those pages out. He looked back up at Elena; she was still glaring at him. He gave her a small smile as he got off the couch, his earlier fears of angering Elena left as he placed a hand on her large belly. "It'll be gone before I show the first write up to Fran. I promise." Nate's smile grew a little as Elena's glare wavered and their son gave a small kick against Nate's palm, "Besides, it's not like this is getting published tomorrow!"

Elena let out a small huff, shuffling back and forth a bit. She was still upset at him, but not as angry as before. "Why did you even write it down?" she asked with an exasperated sigh.

"One of the first things I remembered," Nate replied, "It's hard to forget to that right-hook of yours."

"It's your fault you scared the crap out of me! How was I suppose to know that it was you and Sully and not some pair of goons?" Elena probably would have continued on with a rant about that day, if Nate hadn't seen her face contort into discomfort. He quickly led her to sit down on the couch, ignoring her protest. "God! Nate! I'm fine! It's nothing I can't deal with."

"Elena, we're already going against doctor's orders by letting you be on your feet for extended periods of time." He set himself down on the other end of the couch, patting his lap, "Come on. I'll give you a foot massage." With another huff, Elena placed both of her feet up on his lap.

"I'm still upset with you." Elena murmured half-heartedly.

"I figured as much. We can argue about it later; it'll be great." Nate started massaging one of Elena's feet, smirking as she let out a tiny moan.

"You know if it weren't for the fact that you have magic hands, I would probably be trying to kick the snot out of you." Elena sighed as she relaxed back into the large pillows and cushions behind her. "By the way, I'm happy that you bought all these pillows. I can actually lean back on the couch and not worry about getting stuck."

"Good to hear," Nate chuckled, "and I won't say 'I told you so'." Elena playfully shoved her foot forward.

"Thank you." She smiled at him, letting her eyes close. Nate continued on with his self-appointed task, glad that he was able to bring down Elena's earlier anger towards him. He looked at the pages he had set on the coffee table. Maybe it would be a good idea to not work on the new book till _after_ the baby was born.

* * *

><p><strong>A Change of Plans – or – Discoveries with the Stomach Flu<strong>

Elena groaned. She hated being sick. Any possible symptom a person could get with a cold or flu, she would probably have them. Elena curled up as she wrapped the blankets tighter around herself. How on earth could a person still feel chilly under four different blankets and comforters? Her stomach suddenly gave an unpleasant churning, causing Elena to bite down on her lower lip, trying to will away the urge to remove the contents of her stomach. She barely lasted a minute before tossing off the covers and dashing off to the bathroom. An unmistakable retching sound filled the small apartment and, in the back of her mind, Elena was kind of glad that she lived alone. The retching soon turned into wet coughs as Elena clung to the toilet.

When Elena was certain that she wouldn't be puking her guts up anymore, she flushed the toilet and slowly got up. When did this become a stomach flu? She groaned as she stumbled out of the bathroom. She was gonna have to call Nate and cancel their date. Damn co-workers coming into work sick and ruining her plans. Elena had no idea what time it was as she tried to find her phone. She tried not to look at the dark-navy-blue dress hanging on her bedroom door; Elena was upset enough as it was. She didn't need be reminded of the nice night that could have been. Elena eventually found her phone (it was with her purse in the kitchen) and was shocked to see that in less than five minutes, Nate would be at her door. There were a few text messages and a voice mail left from him. Elena let out a noise of distress; she didn't want him to think that she was standing him up… or getting pay-back for him and Sully leaving her at the dock.

Before she could even start dialing Nate's number, there was a knock on the door and Elena knew it was too late. Elena sighed and shuffled her way to the door. She wished she grabbed a blanket or put on the bathrobe, she was starting to feel cold. Elena opened the door to reveal a very handsome Nathan Drake.

"Hey, ready to…" he paused as he looked her over, quickly connecting the dots as he let himself in. "Wow. You weren't kidding about a cold being passed around."

"I'm so sorry Nate! I would have called earlier-"

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't worry about it. At least I know why I didn't get any replies to my texts." Nate placed the back of his hand on the top of her forehead, "You're really warm." She weakly pulled his hand off.

"I'll be fine-," Elena couldn't finish her sentence; she felt bile rush up and she ran back to the bathroom. It was so unfair! She just wanted to go out for nice dinner with current (and very handsome) boyfriend. Elena wished she could turn off her hearing as she vomited up whatever her stomach decided wasn't fit to be in there. If she weren't busy vomiting she would have jumped when she felt Nate's hands over hers', taking over the job of holding back her hair.

At least it was over quickly. Elena didn't bother resisting as Nate picked her up off the floor and carried her to the couch. If anything, she was embarrassed to be seen this way. She liked the image she had built up in front of Nate; a tough, resourceful woman who wasn't going to take anyone's crap. Now that was being chiseled away each second that Nate stayed. Elena watched Nate come back into the living room with the blankets that she had been under earlier and place them over her. Okay, so it was made Nate a little more attractive to have him take care of her. Alright, so having Nate take care of her was upping his already high attractive points.

"Have you eaten anything today?" he asked, concern written all over his face. Elena shook her head slowly, "I'll get you something easy to eat then." Nate placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, "You just rest, okay?" She nodded and watched him walk off towards her kitchen. Elena couldn't ignore how her heart sped up and how her cheeks flushed with extra colour. That she couldn't blame on her stomach flu. A quiet moan left her lips as she slowly realized something. Nathan Drake, the man who lead her all over a strange, cursed island filled with bat-zombie-demon people and tried to abandon her at a dock, had in a matter of moments completely captured her heart. And there was no way she was going to get it back anytime soon.


	20. 7th of May

**7****th**** of May – or – A New Addition **

To say that things were tense at the moment was possibly an understatement. But then again, sully wasn't probably the best judge for these types of things. After-all, he didn't have to go through the process of waiting for Nate to be popped out. Sure, Sully was antsy at the moment but he knew that Elena was gonna be fine. Nate on the other hand, the kid looked like he was turned into stone. The poor man was deathly silent and still; Sully didn't doubt that Nate was worried about both Elena and his son. He wanted to say something to Nate, but he wasn't sure what to say.

He took a glance at the clock on the wall; they were approaching the six hour mark. God damn, how long did it take for a baby to be born? Sully looked over to Elena's parents, who were remarkably calm. Coraline was busy making some sort of blanket and Theodor was busy yammering his head off. The man probably didn't even realize that no one was really listening to him anymore. Sully glanced over at Chloe, who gave him a small, half-hearted smile before returning to her attention to her book.

Sully let out a quiet sigh as he took another look at Nate. Almost awkwardly, Sully reached out and patted Nate on the shoulder. "Everything is gonna be okay, you know that right?" Sully whispered. For the first time in hours, Nate looked at him. The kid didn't have to say anything; his face reflected how worried he was. Hell, it was like Sully went back to when he first met the kid.

"…Yeah…" Nate gave him a small, grateful smile.

* * *

><p>All Elena wanted at this moment was for the baby to be out of her already. It had seemed like days that she had been trying to push him out. She was at that point where she wasn't even really listening to the nurses and doctor. Elena was just pushing for the hope it would all end soon and she would be holding her child.<p>

"Okay! One more push!" someone yelled, probably the doctor. Elena nodded, gathering as much strength as she could. All she could think of was how she wanted to see her son, to finally hold him. Elena gave her final push and something between a groan and a scream passed her lips. For a moment, it seemed like the world had gone silent and then she hear it. Her son's first cries. She listened with half an ear as the nurses and doctors congratulated her and told her how handsome her son was. Elena could barely take her eyes off of him. If she wasn't so tired, she would have gotten up and cleaned him up herself, wrap him up in the blanket.

Thankfully the nurses and doctor were quick and soon Elena was holding her son… her little Alexander Sullivan Drake. His cries quieted slowly as he was placed in her arms. He seemed to fit so perfectly in her arms… Elena felt tears start to well-up and she blinked them back.

"Should we give you two a moment alone…?" one of the nurses asked in a quiet and soft tone.

"…If…if someone could go get my husband…" Elena didn't need to say anything more. The nurse quickly left the room and Elena's full attention went back to Alex, "Hey there…Mommy's waited a long time to hold you… to see you…"Elena whispered softly to her son. He wiggled a bit, letting out a short, coo-like noise, as if to return his mother's 'hello'. Elena smiled, "Daddy has too. He'll be here really soon. He's probably driven Grandpa crazy by now." She gently stroke Alex's cheek, marveling how soft his skin was. He seemed to lean into her touch and Elena got a good look at his hair. It was like the perfect mix of her and Nate's hair, a dark, sandy blond. She briefly wondered if it would darken as he got older, "You're going to be so handsome. Just like your father... " Alex let out a series of coos and gurgles. She let out a small chuckle, "Just so handsome…"

* * *

><p>"Mr. Drake?" a nurse called out into the waiting room and Nate immediately looked up.<p>

"Yes?" he knew how ridiculous it was to think that he was about to receive bad news, but he couldn't help it.

"Would you like to see go see your wife and son?" All Nate could do was nod in response. He quickly got out of his seat and followed the nurse to whatever room Elena and his son were in. Each step Nate took, he became more and more eager to see his child. But he was also worried. What if he looked at looked his kid and felt nothing? What would he do? All too soon, or perhaps soon enough, the nurse opened the door, "They're in there." Nate nodded and gave a word of thanks before heading in.

Nate looked around, noticing Dr. Princess and a nurse finishing up whatever it was that they were doing. He couldn't help but notice how white and clean the room was. And then he saw Elena, a small blue bundle resting in her arms. Nate knew what, who that blue bundle was. He was frozen to the spot as he watched Elena whisper softly to their son. Her hair was out of her usual bun, strands of hair were sticking to her forehead and the side of her face. She looked a little tired but she looked so happy, so peaceful…

Slowly Nate approached the bed, taking in the scene before him. He felt his lips turn into a smile. He stayed silent, not wanting to interrupt this special moment between Elena and Alex. The closer he got to them, the more he could hear what Elena was telling their son.

"…it's so big! There's a huge tree too. Once you're big and strong enough, I'm sure you'll be able to climb all the way to the top." Elena gently kissed the top of Alex's head before noticing that Nate was there. She smiled at him, "Hey."

"Hey…" Nate sat down on the edge of the bed, leaning down to kiss her. As he pulled away, his eyes fell on the bundle in Elena's arms. Nate was at a loss for words as he looked at Alex. He saw the dark blond duck-fluff, the round face, and most importantly, the big, sleepy blue eyes staring back at him. He felt his heart stop for a moment before giving a little shudder and over-fill with warmth. Nate slowly reached out and let his hand come to rest on Alex's cheek. Just like Elena, he was amazed how soft Alex's skin was. Nate looked at Elena, not too surprised to see her watching him.

"There's Daddy." Elena whispered to their son. Her smile even wider now and Nate felt himself try and match hers. He looked back at Alex, surprised to see how big his hands were compared to the rest of his son. He couldn't find anything to say. How could Elena find so much to say? Was it because she had a little more time to come cover the initial awe? "You can hold him, you know." she told him, "I'm sure he would love that."

Nate could only nod in response. He felt his hands begin tremble; whether it was from excitement or nervousness, he couldn't really tell (though he suspected it was a mix of both). Nate watched as the nurse helped Elena place the blue bundle in his arms and adjust his hands to properly support the tiny baby. He looked down at his son and felt his heart stop again and jump into his throat before it worked into overtime. It was like when he first realized that Elena was something more to him.

"Hey there…" he heard himself whisper. Alex yawned, wiggling a little; it seemed like the kid was attempting to get more comfortable, "You know, I never really thought I'd be a dad…" the words were just leaving his mouth, the like the filter and edit buttons were suddenly turned off, "but here we are…here you are…" He watched as Alex's eyes slowly began to close, completely captivated by this small being in his arms. The fact that he was now a father was hitting Nate full force. He thought back to his own father, his biological father and wondered how anyone could feel nothing but love for their child. How could anyone think that giving up their child? Nate glanced over at Elena for the briefest moment; she was still smiling, even if it had turned into a tired smile, and watching them. His gaze fell back onto Alex, who had fallen asleep. Nate tilted his head down, letting his lips brush a gentle kiss on Alex's tiny forehead. "Alex, I want you to know that I'll always be there for you. That no matter what happens or how far away I am, I'll always be there when you need me." Nate whispered softly, "That's a promise I'll never break."

Nate felt Elena's hand rest on his arm, pulling his attention towards her. "He looks just like you," she said softly, her hand moved from Nate's arm to Alex's cheek, her fingers gently stroking the skin there. "He'll probably get into just as much trouble as you tend to, too."

He chuckled, letting Elena take Alex back into his arms, "I doubt that. After-all, you'll probably stop him before he does anything too stupid." Elena let out a small laugh, "I think he has a bit more of you in him than me, though. I'm pretty sure I never had blond hair."

Their lips met in a sweet and gentle kiss. A sigh of contentment left her as they parted and Nate rested his forehead against hers. A peaceful quiet surrounded them as the new parents silently thanked the each other for new life nestled in Elena's arms.

* * *

><p>Sully sighed as he finished up his celebratory cigar. He had stepped out after Nate left to see Elena and the new-born. He figured that he give the kid as much time as possible before seeing the tyke for himself. Sully was pretty damn certain that Elena's parents were already meeting their grand-child, followed closely by Chloe and Charlie (Charlie, who had appeared just seconds Nate left the waiting room). If they hadn't yet, then surely the Fisher's would be trying to bring down the door.<p>

"All done with that cigar of yours?" Sully glanced over to see Chloe stepping out to join him.

"Yup," He flicked the cigar end into a nearby trash can, "Gone to see the tyke already?"

"Yeah, with Elena's folks. You should've seen it! The moment that kid was placed in Coraline's arms, he went from sleeping angel to crying baby." Chloe laughed, "And of course, the moment Elena got him back into her arms, he quieted down."

"So I take it you didn't even try and hold him?" Sully chuckled as Chloe shook her head.

"Nah. I figured I'd save Elena the trouble." Chloe smiled at him, "Well it's your turn now. They're waiting for ya."

Sully nodded and headed back into the hospital, telling Chloe he see her later. It took him to find a nurse to take him up to the room Nate and Elena were in. He smiled as he walked in and saw Nate and Elena fawning over their son. "I guess congratulations are in order!" He said, announcing his presence to the couple.

"Sully!" Nate practically jumped off the bed and went up to embrace the older man, "What kept you?"

"I figured I smoke my celebratory cigar before I came up to see the new kid." Sully replied. He looked over at Elena, who looked ready to fall asleep. It seemed like the day's events were finally catching up on her. "So, do I get to see him?"

"Of course Sully!" Elena waved him over, smiling broadly, "Has anyone tell you his name yet?"

"Still on the dark on that sweet-heart." Sully leaned over to take a look at the tyke. He was surprised when Elena held the baby out for him to hold. Sully didn't really have much of a choice when Nate came over to help him out. Sully was ready for a bawling baby but was shocked that all the child did was squirm a little before settling down. Sully smiled; he had expected Nate and Elena's kid to be some sort of cross between both of them. Any fears he had about being a part of the child's life were swept away. "So, name?"

Sully didn't see the look Nate and Elena shared between them. "Alexander Sullivan Drake." Nate answered. Sully instantly looked up from Alex and directly at Nate. Nate was just wearing a huge grin.

"Repeat that?"

"Alexander Sullivan Drake." Sully looked back down at Alex; he was shocked and didn't even know what to say.

"I- Why-? What-?" Nate placed a hand on Sully's shoulder.

"Sully, without you I wouldn't be here." Nate said, "I may not carry your name, but we figured that this was the best way of showing you how important you are to me." He ran a hand through his hair. The action showed Sully how hard it must have been to for Nate to say that. Sully kept looking between Nate and Alex.

"I'm not sure what to say kid…"

"Then don't say anything at all." Elena replied. Sully nodded before gently handing Elena back Alex.

"So… Alex for short?" Nate nodded, "Well, I gotta say Alex looks a hell of a lot like you."

Elena laughed, "See! I told you Sully would agree with me!"


	21. Mother's Day

**Mother's Day – or – Time with Family**

"Okay, now put all of that in this pot here." Nate instructed Sophie, helping her put the pasta into the boiling water, "Careful now." Sophie nodded, her face contorted with a high level of concentration. He looked over at Alex, "Got that bread buttered up, kiddo?"

"Yup! What now?" Alex asked. Nate walked over to the table, grabbing the garlic powder.

"You two are gonna go wash up, especially you Alex. You've got sauce all over your shirt. I don't think anyone wants Mom to start talking about how nobody can stay clean." Nate pushed both children out of the kitchen, "I'll finish up here. Mom should be back in a few, 'kay? And be sure to put Snow outside!" They nodded and Nate went to add a decent amount of garlic powder to the buttered bread. He hoped that this would be nice enough for Elena. Work for her so far had been stressful this past week, up to the point to where she was starting to bring her frustrations home with her. Complaints about articles not being turned in on time or not being written correctly filled most of their before bed conversations as of late; apparently everyone was using the excuse of preparing/doing things for Mother's Day. He tossed the bread into the oven; hopefully Elena would be feeling a little bit better today.

"Dad? Should we get Mom's present?" Sophie asked as she walked back into the kitchen, no longer covered in the flour they used to make the penne pasta. Well, she was mostly clean of flour; she still had a few spots of flour in her hair.

"Sure. You remember where it's hidden?" he smiled as Sophie nodded, "Go ahead and grab it and then bring it to the dining room table. After that, I need you and your brother to set the table."

"'Kay!" and with that, Sophie darted out of the kitchen, allowing Nate to do the final preparations for dinner. He reached up into one of the higher cabinets and grabbed one of Elena's favorite wines. Or course, just when Nate was about to add the sauce he heard his children start arguing. A sigh passed his lips and he went to the dining room to see what the fuss was about. Hopefully everything would be done by the time Elena got home.

* * *

><p>Elena sighed as she pulled into the driveway, wondering why she even bothered going to work around holidays and special events. At these times, it always seemed like she and her partner Nicki (whom Elena knew from her collage days) were the only ones who would show up for work. Or at least do work. Well, the up side with running a magazine with an old friend was that they had each other's backs. It also helped when Nate was willing to write articles for her (under a different name of course) and read over the next issue and give her feedback. Another sigh left her as she parked her car into the garage. Today felt like a day that she could use a hug from her little family.<p>

"Mom!" both kids called out as they ran up to her. Elena gave them a large bear-hug and kisses as they said 'Happy Mother's Day'. She looked up at Nate, who was just smiling at her.

"Please tell me you have dinner done." Elena laughed as she let Alex and Sophie go, walking up to Nate.

He kissed her, "You're favorite, tomato basil penne pasta with your favorite wine."

"That sounds wonderful. Do you need me to do anything?" Elena could smell dinner from where she was at. It was making her stomach growl.

"Nope. We're all set and ready to go; we were just waiting for you." Nate gave her another kiss. They made their way to the table and Elena's smile grew as she saw everything on the table. Alex quickly ran over and grabbed the big present off the table. "It's from all of us. Happy Mother's Day, 'Lena."

She took her time unwrapping it and let out a small gasp of joy. It was collection of pictures from last year's summer vacation to Zion National Park in a large collage frame. Pictures of the kids' rock stacking by the river, Snow chasing squirrels near their campsite, the view from the top of Angel's Landing, her and Nate horse-back riding… "This is wonderful! Thank you!" She pulled them all into a hug, "Now I know where my prints went off to!" Elena laughed as she sat down. _This is exactly what I needed._

* * *

><p>"More wine?" Nate asked, holding up the bottle. Alex and Sophie had been put to bed not too long ago with Snow happily curled up at the top of the stairs, allowing Nate and Elena to relax on the living room couch.<p>

"I think I'm good for tonight," Elena let out a noise of contentment as she leaned into Nate's side, snuggling closer as he placed an arm around her arm. "This is what I needed. A nice dinner with you and the kids, a quiet night and a chance to hog all of your attention." Nate let out a laugh at the last bit. "Oh c'mon, you know when you like it when I hog all of your attention. Gives me a chance to do this." She set down her wine glass before straddling his lap, "Also gives me a chance to do this." Elena leaned down and captured his lips with her own. A shiver ran down her spine when Nate let out a low groan. They broke apart, both of them slightly flushed, sharing a look before their lips met again, losing themselves in their embrace. They fell sideways onto the couch, barely breaking apart. Both of them let out a moan as Elena's hips rolled against Nate's. They broke apart and their eyes met. The only thing that could be heard was their shaky, heavy breathing.

"Is this your way of telling me you want another one in the oven?" Nate joked, his hand tracing her spine.

Elena sighed, resting her head on his chest, "Do you want another one?" she asked. She buried her face into the crook of his neck as she felt him stiffen beneath her. They were silent, both unsure who or if they should be breaking the silence.

"I don't know." he said softly, "I mean, Alex and Sophie weren't exactly planned." Elena couldn't help but chuckle at that. "But it would probably be a little easier, with both of them older now."

Elena nodded, "True. We wouldn't have to worry about a toddler running amok while a baby's crying."

"So, do you want another kid?" Nate asked again. Elena let out a sigh as she mulled it over. Another baby would still be tough. Raising and taking care of babies was never an easy task, but it would be a little easier. Alex and Sophie were old enough that Nate and Elena didn't have to be there every two seconds to make sure that they weren't getting themselves into trouble. But still, it was another child. Both she and Nate were exhausted four to five nights out of the week after work and taking care of Alex and Sophie. Could the two of them cope with raising a baby with two kids on top of that?

"I don't know either." She finally said.

"Well, how's this sound? If it happens, it happens. Story of our life, right?" Nate proposed.

"Sounds about right." Elena said with a nod. "So… shall we go back to where we left before all this?" She started placing kisses along his neck, nipping every now and then. Elena was rewarded with a groan. She was going to take that as a yes.


	22. The Morning After

_So this may be pushing the 'T' rating a little bit, but since I'm going to be away from my computer for the next week I figured I would go ahead and post it. I'll still be able to reply to your reviews, so go ahead and let me know what you think! And don't be afraid of suggesting things!_**  
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_By the way, thanks to There She Goes And Shes Comin for always reviewing.  
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**The Morning After – or – Unintentional Seduction with Doughnuts… maybe**

Elena woke up feeling immensely satisfied, if not a little sore. She looked over to her right, her lips curling into a smile as she looked upon Nate's sleeping form. Last night had been wonderful, mostly because she wasn't ill this time. Elena was willing to say that it was the perfect evening. She got to wear her sexy blue dress (which Nate seemed to like very much) and Nate took her out to a very nice Mediterranean-style restaurant. The food had been amazing, even if Nate said that the restaurant's pasta was off. Afterwards, they went to the movies. Well, more like the couple had gone to the theater and discovered that their movie of choice was sold out. So instead of choosing another movie, they headed back to Elena's place and popped in one of her DVDs.

Elena blushed slightly as she remembered what had happened after she had plopped herself next to Nate on the couch. He had simply looped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. Barely five minutes into the movie they had begun to exchange light touches, teasing kisses and vaguely lustful words. And then almost in an instant, the light touches became more, the kisses more demanding and the vagueness gone. They had quickly abandoned the couch for her bed and let nature run its' course. Elena knew she was never going to forget last night. She was already having to put the brakes on her memory.

She stretched a little, making Nate let out a small murmur and his arm tightened around her waist. Elena smiled as she turned herself towards him, giggling a little as Nate pulled her closer and buried his face between her breasts. She would have started to run her fingers through his hair if it hadn't been for her stomach's sudden rumble of hunger. Gently, she pulled away and got off the bed. _Guess it's time to eat_. Elena looked around the floor to find something to wear, only to have her earlier blush return. It was almost a state of chaos in her bedroom, their clothes littered everywhere; okay, so it was mostly Nate's things strewn across the room. His white button-up was just outside the bedroom door with his undershirt hanging off the dresser, the belt not too far from it. His pants were hanging off the ceiling fan with her panties. Elena stared in disbelief from the ceiling fan discovery before turning back towards the bed to see her dress and Nate's boxers lying next to it. And to top it all off, her bra was hanging off one of the posts at the foot of the bed. Elena doubted that the tiny bedroom had seen worse.

Images from last night started their assault again and Elena quickened her pace to the kitchen, jumping as Nate's jacket fell off the couch with a thud. She looked at her couch, not too terribly surprised to find it in a similar state as her bed. She picked up the pace again, wincing a little as she moved. Maybe she shouldn't have let that let that second round happen. Wait; what was she saying? The second round had been as mind-blowing, if not better than, the first round!

It was when Elena reached the kitchen she noticed that she failed to find something to wear. Oh well; it wasn't like she had roommates and Nate certainly saw everything and…uh… personally charted it. He stomach let another demand for food and Elena quickly grabbed the closest thing to her, which happened to be… a box of doughnuts from yesterday morning. She looked, discovering half a dozen mini-cinnamon rolls, two cinnamon twists, and two and an half glazed doughnuts. She tossed out the half doughnut and then headed back to bed. Sure, Elena normally would have made coffee, but that would require effort. She was happy to see Nate still asleep (she would have felt bad if she had woke him up) and carefully placed herself back into her spot, pulling the sheet up to her hips before pulling out a mini-cinnamon roll.

Munching happily on her breakfast, Elena failed to notice two things. The first being that bits of glaze were falling onto her chest (she was more worried about the glaze sticking to her fingers). The second was that Nate was now awake and watching her start on a cinnamon twist. Nate, like Elena, awoke with memories from last replaying in his head. It didn't help that he was hungry and that Elena happened to have his favorite type of breakfast available. It also didn't help that the perverted part of his mind was whispering other things Elena could do with her mouth.

"'Morning," Nate said softly, attempting to pull his mind away from very dirty thoughts.

"Good morning to you too." Elena leaned down and kissed him, moaning as his tongue dragged across her lips. "I have to thank you for last night. It was better than anything I could ask for." He smirked at that, his manly pride and ego grow.

"You're welcome," he pointed to the cinnamon-twist, "Do I get some of that?"

She laughed, placing the doughnut between her lips as she twisted around to grab the box. Nate however had different ideas, and brought her face back towards him. He licked his lips before taking a rather large bite out of her cinnamon-twist. Her blush told him everything, and once again he felt his ego and manly pride swell. _That's not the only thing swelling. _He watched as Elena's face went from surprise to a playful glare.

"That was mine." She said as she removed the doughnut from her mouth.

"That's why it tasted so good." Nate slowly placed himself over her, "And you do realize that you have crumbs all over you, right?"

"What? Whe-?" Elena froze as Nate dipped his head down and began licking off crumbs and bits of glaze. She dropped the cinnamon-twist as Nate's hands began to travel south. There was no way they were leaving this bed today.


	23. Disney Store TS, Seriously Pissed

**The Disney Store in Times Square – or – Nate Spends All of His Money**

Nate sighed as Sophie dashed off into the Disney store. He almost wished that they stayed in line to get the discount _Newsies_ tickets, but he wanted to spend a little more time with Sophie. Nate didn't want to admit it, but he felt like he wasn't spending enough time with her as of late. So here he was, in Times Square, in a Disney store watching his little girl look around in wonder as if it was her first time in a Disney store. Well, it was Sophie's first time in a store this big containing things that she liked. _Suck it up._ Nate smiled as he let Sophie drag him over to a large display of plush toys, eagerly naming off all the characters. It reminded of when he and Elena started dating and she would tell him about her new assignment. Actually, Elena still did that.

"Ah! Look! They have Nala!" She held up the lion plush toy.

"Isn't that something?" Nate chuckled, "She's one of your favorites, right?"

"Yeah, but Casey says that Nala's not a princess, but she totally is!" Sophie put the plush toy back, "Oh! It's Pascal!" She picked up and gave the toy a tight hug. She frowned a little, holding the plush toy at arm's length.

"What's wrong with him?" he asked as Sophie placed the plush Pascal back.

"Not cuddly enough. Nala's better." She looked up at Nate with large, seemingly pitiful, doe eyes, "Can I get it?"

Nate stared back at his daughter, wondering where the hell she learned Elena's begging face. It looked absolutely adorable on Sophie and he was certain that he would give her anything she asked for. He nodded and she hugged him before grabbing the Nala plushy and dashing off to a nearby display. "What the heck just happened?"

* * *

><p>"Do we have to go in there?" Alex whined. Elena rolled her eyes and continued leading the way into the Disney store.<p>

"That's where your Dad and Sophie are at the moment." She explained, "We'll go to the Heresy's Store and the M&M store after we go round them up."

"But it's gonna be filled with princess stuff."

"You'll live." She pushed her son into the store and tried to locate her husband and daughter. She looked around, hoping to see Nate and Sophie up at the register. Elena wasn't too surprised not to see her two missing people on the first floor. "Let's go up to the second floor." She laughed a little as Alex let out a groan, though his opinion changed on the store once they reached the second floor. Off to the left was a small section of super-hero items.

"I'm gonna look at that!" Alex then ran off towards the display.

"Stay in that area, okay?" Elena called out after him. She looked around before deciding that Sophie had most likely dragged Nate into the 'castle' on the other end of the sales floor. She smiled as she avoided other little girls running around the store; hopefully Nate wasn't having too much trouble keeping up with Sophie.

"Mom!" Sophie ran up to her, nearly sending Elena to the ground on impact.

"Hey! Having fun with Dad?" She couldn't but laugh as Sophie started telling her how amazing the store was and began leading her to where Nate was. Elena's laughter stop once she saw her husband, who was loaded down with shopping bags filled with all sorts of stuff animals, dress-up clothes, dolls… "Oh Nathan…" Elena shook her head as she went over to help him out, "What on earth-"

"I don't know how, but she's learned _the face_." Nate explained, "That face you put on when you feel it's necessary to beg for something."

Elena laughed, "She pulled the puppy dog eyes on you?"

"I wouldn't call it that, but it's really hard to say no to." Nate said, "You laugh, but it's really hard! I think she was waiting just for this trip."

"I hope you know you just spoiled your daughter rotten with all of this." She teased as she peaked into some of the bags, "I guess that means I need to hold onto your wallet for awhile."

"Just the cards." He kissed her, "Come on. Let's get the kids and head to Toys 'R' Us so Alex can run wild there."

"And then he can spend more of your money there. But we're heading to the Heresy and M&M store first." Elena announced, "I'll grab Alex and we can head out."

Nate nodded, briefly watching Elena walk off before turning towards Sophie to see her beaming up at him, "Ready to go to the big candy stores?" He chuckled as she nodded, her smile growing.

"Dad?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks."

* * *

><p><strong>Seriously Pissed – or – The Start of the First Adventure<strong>

She was seriously pissed. Did those two no-good tomb robbers think they could cut her out of this? Elena growled in anger and frustration as she stumbled over some rubble. Any other day, this would be a great walk through of ruins that no one had seen for centuries. But not today. Once she caught up with Drake and his partner, she was going to give them a piece of her mind. No one left Elena Fisher on a crappy little dock and got away with it. Especially when one of them owed her a story. Hell, she probably shouldn't have agreed to fund this whole thing in the first place and taken the easier assignment. Then she would have never had to deal with pirates and the possibility of ending up in a Panamanian jail, an uninsured boat exploding, and tracking down a pair of assholes through a jungle. It didn't help that as she walked through the ruins she kept hearing echoes of orders being barked out. _More pirates?_

Eventually Elena found the exit and hid herself behind a pillar. She listened as a group of men crossed the clearing, listening with half an ear as the leader gave instructions and waited for things to become quiet. After what felt like hours, she wondered if she should try and turn back. But she had this nagging feeling that that there were guards posted throughout the ruins. Elena checked the gun she brought along with her. If being on that boat with Drake taught her one thing, it was be prepared to get shot at. At least when dealing with Nathan Drake.

She jumped as she heard gun-fire and flattened herself against the pillar. Shouting soon joined the gun-fire and Elena felt her adrenaline begin to kick-in full swing. She nearly jumped when Drake, of all people, appeared next to her. She grabbed hold of him, spinning him around and was happy that he didn't punch her. There was no way hell she would let him live that down if he did.

"Whoa there, cowboy!" Elena exclaimed. He looked surprised to see her and about to say something… before she punched him in the face, "That's for leaving me at the dock!"

"What the hell are you doing here?" he half whispered, half yelled.

"Listen, I'm a good enough reporter to follow a couple of no-luck tomb robbers!" she yelled back. Elena probably would have continued on if it hadn't been for him suddenly pressing herself against the pillar. He shushed her and pressed himself closer to her. Elena felt herself blush, staring at Drake as a pair of mercenaries ran past them.

He slowly moved away from her, "Well, you're down to one tomb robber, now. Sully's dead."

Her eyes widen."What?" Jesus. Sure she wasn't happy with them leaving her at the dock, but Sully (from the few times she had a chance to talk to him) was a nice man.

"Yeah, and we're next if we don't get outta here." He stated, looking more than eager to get the hell out of there.

"Oh god… I'm sorry." Drake seemed rattled and Elena couldn't help but wonder exactly what happened.

"Please tell me you have a gun." He asked.

"Of course." She pulled out her spare and held it out to him.

"Oh, thanks." He took the gun from her, "All right, c'mon." He dashed back to the temple ruins, quickly taking out a couple of mercenaries.

"You always seem to be getting shot at!" Elena called out. It seemed like the moment they brought Sir Francis Drake's 'coffin' up to the surface that's all that happened.

"They're shooting at you, too, you know!" He seemed to laugh a little at that before taking cover again, "Stay close."

They made their way through the temple ruins, Drake easily taking out mercenaries as they moved along. Elena felt more or less like a sandbag that he had to drag along, but she was able to get a few good shots in. She was happy to finally see sunlight as they reached the clearing where her jeep was parked. They quickly dealt with the last few guards.

"Over here, I think- yeah, this way!" She led him over to her jeep and they started pulling off the palm branches off of it. "You always been this popular?"

"Well, I do seem to attract the scum of the earth." She rolled her eyes, "Ah – no offence."

"None taken." Elena climbed into the passenger seat, letting Drake take the wheel. He most likely knew where would be a safe place to go.

"Do you have a good memory?" he asked as he searched for the keys.

"Yeah, why?"

"UK2642… you got that?" he pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it over to her.

"Yeah, what is it?" she asked as she unfolded it.

"It's Kriegsmarine coordinates. I think I know where the Spanish took El Dorado." Elena's widened at 'El Dorado' and heard herself repeat the lost city's name. "The problem is, " he turned the key in the ignition trying to start the jeep, "so do the bastards who killed Sully. Damn it!" he hit the steering wheel in frustration, "If the Spanish found the treasure, they had to've moved it there, to that island. And Drake followed 'em."

Elena smiled. "Well, what are we waiting for? I'll get the story, and you get… whatever it is you're after." She playfully hit him with the old map. Nate let out a cheer as he finally started the jeep, "C'mon!"

"Hey, this isn't gonna be a vacation, you know."

"I can take care of myself. Besides, you owe me one." She reminded him. Elena really wanted this story. This was huge! How often does a person get a chance to find El Dorado and discover what it really was? Drake gave her a small smile before nodding in agreement.

"I suppose I do." He put the jeep in gear and they drove away from the temple ruins. Elena could tell already that this was going to be a very profitable story. In not only in actual money made from finding El Dorado, but in ratings. Ratings had always been decent for her show, but this was going to make them jump up. If not for El Dorado with history and treasure buffs, then definitely with the female crowd. After-all, Drake wasn't bad to look at.

* * *

><p><em>I originally planned for the vacation section at the start to be longer, but no matter how many times I wrote it, it didn't seem right. So I'll just continue it in other chapters. Also, had to do something with first game.<em>

_Looking forward to your reviews.  
><em>


	24. Unofficial Second Honeymoon

**The (Unofficial) Second Honeymoon – or How **_**Uncharted 3**_** Should Have Ended**

Nate blankly stared out the window of the cab, his fingers tapping impatiently tapping against his leg. Sully sat next to him, smoking his first cigar in days. They had finally arrived back in Yemen after two days. Salim, after they had regrouped, helped them find a working truck from what was left of the convoy, gave them supplies, and a map marked with directions back to the city. They had taken turns driving through the Rub' al Khali, barely stopping until they reached Yemen. Nate and Sully had quickly ditched the truck, both keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious. The two of them had been highly on edge thanks to their early morning arrival. Now they were both blankly watching the streets slowly become busier as the cab driver took them in deeper into the city, headed to Elena's temporary apartment.

Nate started to gnaw on his lower lip as he thought of her. He was worried about her. Marlowe had threatened to use Elena against him after all, and neither he nor Sully knew if there were still any of Marlowe's goons in the city. For all they knew, Marlowe or Talbot could have sent out an order to kidnap Elena. But Elena, as Sully kept telling him, was a smart girl. If she was in trouble, she would be able to get herself out of it. If not out of it, then keep herself at least one step ahead of her pursuers. That didn't stop Nate from worrying though. She had risked a lot by helping him rescue Sully, putting herself in the direct line of fire by making sure he got on that cargo plane. There was hardly a doubt in Nate's mind that she had been seen as she drove the jeep. He just hoped she got out off of that airstrip without being followed.

He all but bounded out of the cab as it pulled up to the apartment complex, leaving Sully to pay the fare. Sully was barely able to stop Nate as he reached the stairs.

"Jesus, Kid. Hold your horses." Sully said, a little out of breath. Nate waited for the older man to catch his breath before starting back up the stairs, "Hey, hold up a minute, Nate."

Nate turned around, a little confused and worried as to why his mentor stopped him again. "You okay?"

"Yeah." He paused for a moment, "Yeah, I just…got something that needs saying, that's all."

"Alright, what is it?"

"Look, I um…I had a lousy father, lousy childhood. I hit forty, I figured I was never going to have a son of my own. Hell, I never wanted one. What the hell do I know about raising a kid?" Sully scoffed before smiling, "Then you came barreling into my life."

"Look, you don't have to-"

"No listen. I do. I have made a lot of mistakes, kid. A lot." Nate couldn't help but scoff at that. 'A lot' was more than an understatement, "And uh… well I am not a perfect man." That's when Sully pulled something small and round out of his pocket. Nate almost instantly knew what it was.

"You're not proposing, are you, Sully? I mean I love you but-" Nate began, trying to cover the rush of emotion.

"Stop." Sully said using that same tone of voice when he was first started teaching Nate. A tone that Nate hadn't truly heard in years, "Just stop being a wise-ass for one second."

Nate just stared at the ring for what felt like an eternity. He could have sworn he had lost all those months ago and had been distraught when he couldn't find it the morning after some heavy drinking. "How long have you been carrying that around?"

"Too long." Sully gave him a smile before handing over the silver band. Nate examined it, not too surprised to see it hadn't received a single scratch and thought back on that day in the court house. How Elena had given him a shy smile as she slipped the ring onto his finger, a smile he hadn't really seen since the start of their relationship.

"Thought I'd lost it."

"Here's the thing, kid. We don't get to chose how we start in this life. Real greatness is what you do with the hand you're dealt." Sully patted Nate on the shoulder as he smiled. Nate looked up the stairway, "C'mon. I'm sure she's worn some of that carpet down."

Nate chuckled as he slipped the ring back on, "There you go again, making everything sound dirty." Sully just shook his head and Nate began racing up the stairs, taking two at a time. It was time to make everything right again.

* * *

><p>Elena had nearly jumped out of her skin as she heard a loud commotion echoing from the hallway. She quickly rolled out of bed and ran up to the door, unlocking it and stuck her head out. It was coming from the stairway, and while she didn't understand everything that was being said, she heard her name. That was all that was needed to send Elena into a panic. She quickly (but quietly) shut the door and started formulating a plan. It had to be a pair of Marlowe's goons. Something had happened to Nate and Sully, there was no doubt. Elena didn't even doubt for a second that they would try and use her as a 'method of persuasion'. Well she wasn't going to go down without a fight. She would fight them off and when she saw an opening, she would make a break for it.<p>

_Maybe I'll be able to get hold of a gun_. Elena had lost hers at the airstrip and had been unable to replace it. But for now, it would have to wait. She placed herself next to the door and listened as the commotion got louder and closer. As she heard the footsteps approach her door, she raised her fist, ready to strike when the first goon came through the door. Elena let out a small squeak of surprise as the door burst open and she let her right-hook loose, instantly knocking the man to the ground. A 'holy shit' reached her ears and she quickly turned herself around to punch the shit out of the other man, only to see Sully.

"Well it's good to know you're okay too Elena." Sully said with a slight laugh as she rushed up to him, "Though the same can't be said for Nate." Elena looked back behind her and looked at the man on the ground. It was Nate. Elena felt herself pale and immediately rushed to her husband's side. This of course was amusing to Sully as he stepped in and closed the door behind him. "Let's get the kid out of the middle of the hall, okay?"

"God! I thought it was some goons! Couldn't you guys have tried to call me?" Elena all-but shouted as they carried Nate to the bed, "I spent nearly a whole week worrying about where the hell you were! Whether either of you were dead, or if Nate was too late in finding you! Or if Nate even survived the parachuting part of the plan!"

"Well, you now." Sully smirked, "But again sweet-heart, it's good to know you're okay."

"Still doesn't mean the two of you didn't almost give me a heart-attack." Elena said, trying not to let Sully on to how she was feeling. Nate looked like hell had chewed him up and spat him back out…again. So he didn't look as bad this time, that much she could say.

"You know he's been worried sick about you." Sully said softly, "Nearly drove us off the road a couple a times."

"And Nate says I'm a bad driver." Elena scoffed, pulling up the hem of Nate's shirt to check for any wounds that needed tending to. She looked up at the older man when he didn't give her a laugh or a wise-ass remark.

He looked a little older as he gave her a small smile, "Look, you and I both know that I don't tend to do very well on the emotional stuff." Elena just nodded, "But I'll say this, 'cause he'll ask, he gave it to me when he was drunk."

"Sully, what are you talking about?" Elena asked, her confusion clear, frowning a little as Sully laughed.

"You'll understand. For now, I suggest you change some of the bandages. I'm gonna go back to the hotel and grab Nate's stuff." Sully gave her a pat on the shoulder and headed out, leaving Elena to take care of her husband.

* * *

><p>Nate heard himself groan as he slowly came to, his head pounding. He remembered running up stairs and telling Sully to hurry it up. Then opening the door and getting punched. Damn, he hoped that was Elena who punched him. Opening his eyes, he slowly looked around. It took several moments to realize that he was still in Elena's apartment. He could hear the water running somewhere nearby and tried to sit up. Nate let out a hiss of pain as a few of the wounds on his abdomen protested the sudden movement. He let himself fall back onto the mattress. The squeaking of the faucet being turned reached his ears, followed by light footsteps.<p>

The sight that greeted his eyes was Elena, clad only in an old button up and her undergarments, her hair down (a sight that he hadn't seen in quite some time). She smiled at him when she noticed that he was awake and quickly moved towards him. Nate returned her smile, gently placing a hand upon her waist as she sat down next to him.

"Hey there. How ya feeling?" Elena asked softly, letting a hand rest on his cheek.

"Like somebody smashed a brink into the side of my face." He said, his playful tone of voice sneaking in. He could have laughed as Elena cringed from the remark.

"Yea… sorry about that." She briefly looked away, "I thought you and Sully were some of Marlowe's goons."

Nate laughed, "Good to know that you're right-hook has gotten better. The last time you punched me, I was out for…what? Two hours?"

"Three. You were out for nearly the whole day." Elena let her thumb stroke his stubbly cheek, "I was about ready to try and take you to your hospital. "

"The whole day? How long?"

"It's about five now, so… nearly eight and an half hours." Elena bit down on the bottom of her lip, "I would have panicked earlier if you didn't have some moments of almost being conscious."

"Sorry," he slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position, letting Elena help him up, "I don't mean to make you worry."

"I know you don't," Elena sighed, "You never do."

"But I do." He murmured, voicing Elena's unspoken thought. She looked away, not wanting to meet Nate's gaze. He cupped her cheek and let his thumb stroke her soft skin. "Elena… There's something I have to tell you." Elena stiffened, waiting for Nate to continue. "It's not the easiest thing for me to say, but-"

"It's okay. I-" she took in a deep breath, "I understand." She got up from the bed and pulled on a pair of jeans.

"Elena?" Nate called after her, confusion clear in his voice.

"It's okay! Really…" she didn't look at him, and it was killing him. He was completely lost on Elena's sudden change of mood. They were silent for several moments. And then she suddenly went for the door, and Nate quickly got off the bed.

"Wait! Elena!" he grab hold of her arm, stopping her from opening the door.

"Let go! I already know what you're going say!"

"Will you please just listen?"

"Why should I when I already know what you're going to say!"

"And what am I going to say?"

"That you're going to keep going on with this style of life! Risking your life for what? A handful of gold coins?" Elena finally looked at him, tears brimming in her eyes. Nate was shell-shocked. He stared at her, unsure how to really respond to her. He was knocked out of his stupor when Elena made another move for the door. He quickly grabbed hold her hand. She tried to pull away but he held on, let her beat against him. He pulled her to him and let her cry, not saying a word until her sobs quieted to shuddery breaths.

"I'm not leaving you Elena." he said softly.

"Yes you are." Elena choked out.

"No, I'm not. Please listen. You never listen." Nate stayed silent for a moment to see if she would say anything. "I'm done with that life. There were too many close calls on this one and…and I was afraid you were going to be one of them. Charlie got drugged and nearly broke his neck, me and Sully barely get out of a burning chateau, Sully got kidnapped…" he took a deep breath. The list could go on. "And I've been so worried that you were going to be next on that list."

"I think I've already made the 'close-calls' list, Nate." Elena sniffled. He knew what she was referring to.

"Yeah, well, once is enough." He sighed, "Once is enough. I'm done with it. I'm done with that chapter in my life."

"What are you going to do then? What are you going to do if you're going to quit treasure hunting?"

"Follow you around." He smiled as Elena let out a small laugh. "I take it you like that plan?"

"You'll follow me around and be what? My unofficial bodyguard?"

"If that's what it takes." Nate let her pull away, still smiling and happy to see her smiling again. She nodded before resting her head on his chest, a hand resting on the spot Sir Francis Drake's ring used to be.

"I'm sorry about your ring." Elena whispered.

"It's okay. I traded it for something better." He placed his left hands over hers, positive that she wouldn't miss the wedding band. She didn't. Nate watched as her eyes lit up and widen, his smile growing as she looked between him and his wedding band. Elena smiled back at him; tears (happy tears) pricked at the corners of her eyes and pulled him into a tight hug. He gladly returned it, placing a kiss on her temple.

"I can't believe I didn't see it earlier." She said, her voice muffled against his chest. Nate just smiled and pulled back, "Guess I'm not as observant as I thought I was."

"I won't hold it against you." He leaned down and kissed her. It was light, chaste almost. They pulled apart, eyes half closed and lips centimeters apart. They stared at one another, as if daring the other to make the first move.

It was debatable who made that first move, but was certain that the moment their lips met again that every instinct took over. Their lips clashed, practically fighting for dominance as Nate pinned Elena up against the door. A hand roamed her side while the other tangled itself in her hair. She griped onto his shirt, trying to pull him even closer. They barely broke apart from one another and when they did, it was only for quick gasps of air. The couple knocked over many things as they made their way to the bed, but they didn't care. They had been apart for too long. Too long had they gone without being able to see, hold, and kiss one another. If it was one thing Nate and Elena both knew it was that had then been on better terms when Nate and sully arrived, this clamor towards the bed would have happened much earlier.

* * *

><p>He rolled off to the side, gathering Elena in his arms, both of them gasping for air. She weakly pulled herself up to kiss him before letting herself collapse onto his chest. They laid there in silence for what seemed like days as they slowly came down from their euphoric high.<p>

"I hope you know that I'm considering locking you up in this room." Elena teased softly, smiling as Nate chuckled.

"How am I supposed to act as the unofficial bodyguard if I'm in here?"

"Who said you'd be the bodyguard?" He peered down at her, watching as her hand began to lazily draw a mindless pattern on his chest.

"Then let me rephrase that. How am I supposed to be your husband if I'm locked up in here?"

She smirked at him, slowly raising herself up and moved to straddle his hips. She leaned down, "I think you know how." Elena quickly closed the distance between their lips and moaned as Nate bucked up against her. They broke apart and Nate chuckled.

"Yeah, I think I do."

It would be another two days before Sully saw them again.

* * *

><p><em>This is the safe version of this chapter! If you want the smutty version of this chapter, please go read The Unofficial Second Honeymoon. Be warned. It's my first real lemonsmut fic._


	25. Father's Day

**A Late Father's Day**

Nate pulled the blanket up to rest on Sophie's shoulders before turning down the volume. A glance at the clock told him it was approaching two in the morning. He yawned as returned his attention to the last fifteen minutes of _Invasion of the Body Snatchers_. The one that came out in the 1970's of course. That was the best version after-all. He smiled as Sophie curled up and snuggled closer. He liked this Father's Day tradition that he developed with his daughter. They would do the usual; the whole family would go out to eat and spend the rest of the day together. After dinner, he and Sophie would go out and rent movies, old TV shows… whatever caught their attention, really. And then after the rental store, they would go and raid the grocery store for soda and junk food. Then, with a quick gathering of pillows and blankets, they settled themselves onto the couch and begin their movie-thon. Of course, when they started this tradition it was more pillow-forts and kid movies. Not that Nate minded. In fact, they still built the occasional pillow-fort.

He smiled as she muttered something in her sleep. He was happy that she was more than willing to celebrate Father's Day late. Nate had felt bad when he learned his latest book tour would make him miss Father's Day, but knowing that his little girl was willing to carry on their special tradition. Elena had laughed when he told her that over the phone one night. Told him that no matter what happened, both Alex and Sophie would want to spend time with him.

"Room for another?"

Nate looked behind him to see Elena wrapped in her white bathrobe. He smiled and nodded, motioning for her to take the empty spot on his left. He chuckled as he noticed Snow tailing his wife. She held back a laugh as she saw what was playing.

"What?" he whispered.

"Figures that you two finish off with this." Elena plopped down next to him.

"She picked it out. After-all, it was her first 'adult' horror movie." Elena snorted.

"Also gave her nightmares for two weeks." She muttered.

Nate gave her a small frown. "How was I supposed to know it was going to give her nightmares? She was thirteen." Elena smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist. "It's almost hard to believe she'll be seventeen soon." They sat in silence, both blankly watching the TV screen.

"She'll always be your little girl." Elena said softly. He nodded, yawning as the end credits started to play. "And you'll always be her father."

"I'll be sure to remember that." Nate murmured, his eyes falling shut. Elena yawned and snuggled close. Slowly they fell asleep, not caring about how they would most likely wake up with a number of aches.

* * *

><p><strong>Father's Day Battle<strong>

Nate stared at the nerf gun on the end table. Underneath the nerf gun was a note. He set his keys down and carefully picked up the note. He looked around, a little freaked out how quiet the house was at the moment.

_ This is your gun. It is fully loaded. The kids and I are armed as well. There are other guns scattered throughout the house. Good luck._

He turned the note over to see if there was anything written on the back, a little surprised not to find anything else written on it. He expected a drawing from Sophie, at least. It was hard to find spare paper that wasn't drawn or coloured on. Nate carefully picked up the toy gun, looking around to make sure no one was planning to sneak up on him. He and Elena hadn't done something like this in a long time. Before the kids, Elena would give him directions to a paint-ball place and then it would be an all-out war between the two of them.

After taking off his shoes (Elena had been very adamant about the whole shoes off things as of late), he slowly made his way down the hall, taking cover as he peered into the living room. Nate felt a little ridiculous by the action, but he knew his son had excellent aim for a ten-year-old. Elena chalked it up to genes; Nate gave the credit to video games. Alex may play the E titles (and some T titles with both parents approval), but they definitely improved his reflexes and reaction-time. And Sophie seemed to be a good mix between Nate and Elena; strategizing as she went along and getting the hell out of a situation before it became too overwhelming for her.

He glanced at the closed basement door before deciding that the basement would most likely be a 'safe' zone. Nate quickly headed up the three to four steps that lead into the kitchen. He was barely in the kitchen for a minute when Alex popped up from behind the bar, getting a few good shots as Nate ducked for cover behind the wall dividing the sitting room from the kitchen. He heard Alex dash to his direction and fired as his sandy-blond head came around the opposite corner. Nate laughed as Alex let out a cry surprise as the darts hit their mark. Nate ducked back into the kitchen and scooped up the darts Alex fired.

He went from the kitchen, to the dining room, to the sitting room, grinning as Alex followed. Nate ran up the stairs, slowing as he waited for either Sophie or Elena to jump out of one of the rooms. Sophie was the one who popped out and Nate quickly fired before picking her up. He laughed as she gave half-hearted cries of 'no' and 'put me down'. She giggled as Nate ran back down the stairs with her over her shoulders. Alex shot at them, emptying out his nerf gun before running off to the living room.

"MOM! Help!" he screamed.

Nate placed Sophie back on her feet, smiling as she gathered up the darts. "Wanna team up, Princess?" Sophie lit up like a thousand watt bulb and nodded.

She grabbed hold of his hand and eagerly led him over to the bar, "The rapid fire gun is in there." Sophie whispered as she pointed to a cupboard where people without small children would keep wine. He pulled out the said item, a large grin spreading over his face as studied it. It may not be a AK-47, but it would do.

"Have an idea of what your mother may have?" Nate asked. He watched as Sophie's face contorted adorably into concentration.

"The rifle, maybe." She replied. He pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. She hugged him back, always eager for one her father's hug. "Do we have a plan?"

Nate pulled back and held up a finger, singling for her to quiet as he tried to listen for Elena and Alex. All he could hear was some shuffling and the sound of nerf guns reloading. "I think what we'll do is flank them."

"Won't Mom expect that?"

"Maybe. But you're forgetting that your brother likes to charge forward whenever we go head to head." He handed her his starter gun, "Take this and go left-"

"As if I'm trying to go the garage?"

"-Yup. But I want you to take cover behind the wall just as the stairs end and wait for me to draw Alex away. When you hear Alex give out his war cry, I want you to attack. Sound good?"

Sophie nodded, "What if Mom's hiding in the basement?"

"Then you shot and run, zig and zag, and find some cover."

"Like always?"

Nate chuckled as he pulled her into a one-armed hug. "Just like always." He checked the rapid-fire nerf gun, happy to see that it was fully loaded. "Ready to go?" She gave a quick nod and held up her two nerf guns. They smiled at one another before breaking apart, Nate purposely making as much noise as possible as he dashed over to cover Sophie's footsteps. They shot each other a thumbs-up before moving into their positions.

Nate listened for movement and carefully peered into the living room. He saw the top of Elena's head behind the couch, and it seemed like she was busy with Alex. He took a chance and looked around the corner, seeing Sophie doing the same thing as him. She spotted him and slowly held up one of the nerf guns. He titled the rapid-fire up and nodded towards Elena and Alex; a quick glance told him that they had heard his approach, but Elena had to keep the eager ten-year-old still. And from the looks of it, she was having a hard time in the task. It also looked like she hadn't noticed her husband and daughter slowly closing in on them. Nate made eye contact with Sophie and took aim; she followed suit and shot him a big toothy grin.

"Alex! They're gonna pop out any minute now!" Nate heard Elena whisper, confirming his suspicion.

Nate mouthed the count-down as they listened to mother and son argue. Elena and Alex's heads snapped up as they heard Sophie cock her nerf gun. Elena made a move for her gun, was too slow as Nate and Sophie opened fire. Alex tried to run and tackle Nate, but tripped over a throw pillow. Nate just laughed and emptied out the rapid-fire nerf gun. Elena let out a war cry and vaulted over the couch, tackling Nate. He caught her and was barely able to stop them from tumbling to the floor. Sophie followed her mother's example and hopped onto her brother, hitting him with a pillow. Nate laughed at it all.

"It would be easier if you surrendered!" Elena announced, laughing as Sophie cried out an overly-dramatic 'never'. "And what about you tough guy?" Elena asked Nate. He gave her a roguish grin before tossing her on his shoulder and spun around. Elena couldn't help but laugh and scream at the same time.

"You're the one who needs to surrender!" he laughed out and continuing to spin around.

"No! No more! I'm gonna throw up!" She cried out.

"Do you surrender?"

"Yes! Yes! Now stop!"

Nate laughed and came to a stop, tossing Elena onto the couch. He braced himself on his knees and let himself regain his balance. They listened with half an ear as Sophie and Alex continued on with their pillow fight. He soon joined Elena on the couch and tossed an arm over her shoulders.

"Good Father's Day activity?" she asked, still a little out of breath. He nodded and placed a kiss on her cheek. "I thought so too. I would have done paint-ball but…" They both looked over to their kids. It looked like Sophie was winning.

"Another couple of years and then we can take them out to the range." Nate decided.

"No live guns."

"I know. Only paint guns." Elena smiled in agreement and rested her head on his shoulder, "And maybe the archery range." Elena gave him a weird look, "You know, if they want to."

She rolled her eyes and couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of her children with a bow and arrow. A smile spread across her lips as Alex reached up and started tickling Sophie's sides. Elena placed an arm around Nate's waist. "Thank you." she murmured. Nate gave her a confused look, silently asking her what she was thanking him for. She placed a soft kiss on his jaw, "For them." She answered, looking back at their children.

"You don't have to thank me." He answered softly, "I should be thanking you. You're the one who was the taxi cab for nine months, not me."

"And I wouldn't have been the taxi cab if you didn't provide half of the material."

Nate chuckled, "Elena, we could argue about this all week and still be unable to come to an agreement."

Elena rolled her eyes again and settled herself back against him. "You know we have this argument every Mother's and Father's Day. And since it's Father's Day, I get to thank you."

"Fair enough." Nate said with another chuckle.

* * *

><p><em>A very late Father's Day chapter, but better late than never right?<em>

_By the way,  
>there will be a very special chapter on the Ninth of July.<em>

_I look forward to your reviews!  
><em>


	26. 9th of July

**9****th**** of July – or – The Family Grows**

Nate didn't wince as Elena's grip on his hand tightened. If anything, he returned it to give her silent encouragement. Thankfully, Elena had moved on from yelling about how her current position was all his fault. Now she would occasionally yell a small set of obstinacies at him. Still blaming him, of course, but he took it all in stride. Elena may be threatening to castrate him right now, but he knew when this was all over she would be happier than words could describe. Nate watched her face contorted into pain as she pushed again. He knew better than to give Elena words encouragement. She had chewed him out earlier for that. So he made do with small gestures; returning her squeezes, rubbing his thumbs or hand against the back of her hand, placing the occasional kiss to her hand….

She looked up at him and he gave her an encouraging smile. Nate flinched as Elena gave his hand a particularly hard squeeze. He heard the doctor that she saw the baby's head and Nate almost forgot to breathe. From what one of the nurses told him, that meant that he would be seeing his daughter very soon. He looked at Elena, not surprised to see her looking back at him. She had that determined look on her face, one that he saw many times when they were about to go up against seemingly impossible odds. Nate tightened his grip on his wife's hand. She pushed once, twice…

They both waited with bated breath as they heard their baby give its first cries for the doctor to hold her up. Nate felt himself smile as he saw his daughter for the first time and he knew Elena was smiling as well. The cord was cut was by Nate's slightly trembling hands and the couple smiled at one another while Sophie was cleaned and wrapped in a soft pink blanket. He couldn't help but chuckle as Elena eagerly held out her arms to hold their baby.

"Hello Sophie," Elena whispered softly, "Mommy's so happy to finally see you." Sophie continued on to hiccup little sobs; they had quieted down after she was placed in her mother's arms but it almost seemed like she was looking around for something. "Sh… it's okay. Mommy and Daddy are right here." She placed a soft kiss on Sophie's cheek before humming a lullaby, one that she and Nate had heard so long ago in Tibet.

"She's so tiny…" Nate murmured, his hand gently stroking his daughter's check. "Even Alex wasn't this small." His gaze fell back on Elena as she chuckled.

"She has your hair." She lifted up the small pink cap, just enough for him to see the small tuft of soft dark brown hair. To be honest, it was a few shades lighter than his, but there no doubt in either parent's mind that it would darken over time.

Suddenly, Sophie's eyes landed on Nate and his heart shuddered to a stop. Large, blue-grey eyes stared up at him. Big, wonderfully bright eyes that were so innocent and seemed to be filled with unending curiosity, as if she was eager to begin learning everything now. Nate barely heard Elena say that he should hold their daughter and automatically held out his arms as Elena lifted Sophie up to him. Sophie continued to stare at him and he didn't dare to look away. If he weren't holding her, he would thought this was all a dream, but the warmth he felt coming from her small form was enough to remind him it wasn't a dream. Nate felt his heart jump up into his throat and the warmth he felt from his daughter seemed to spill into him. He smiled and murmured a gentle 'hello'.

"She has your eyes."

"She's going to be beautiful. You'll have to keep all the boys away." Elena laughed as Nate frowned slightly, muttering something about there wouldn't be any boys. "Something tells me she's going to be a big Daddy's girl."

Nate didn't reply to Elena's comment. He just held Sophie closer and murmured the same promise he made to his son just a little over three years ago.

* * *

><p>Elena chuckled as Sophie let out a series of gurgles and coos. "Are you excited to see your big brother? He's been impatient to see you." She smiled as Sophie continued on making adorable baby noises, almost as if she were trying to mimic Elena and say the words herself. "Oh, you're going to be a big talker, aren't you?" Elena laughed as Sophie tried to mimic her again. It looked like her daughter was going to be an eager learner too.<p>

Elena glanced up at the clock. Nate would hopefully be here soon with Alex, and most likely with Sully, Chloe and maybe Charlie in tow. The three had played baby-sister all day yesterday and well into the night after-all. She wouldn't blame any of them for wanting to see her little angel. Elena's thought process stop as her mind looped back to her daughter. She nuzzled Sophie's soft cheek, giddy at the joy of finally having a baby girl. Oh, she loved her little Alex, but boys don't like play dress-up and you couldn't dress up boys in adorably frilly clothing. Plus Alex had his own little nick-name. He was her handsome little devil. And so Sophie was her lovely little angel.

Sophie continued on to make noise, obviously enjoying the attention she was getting from her mother. Of course this prompted Elena to start telling Sophie how gorgeous she was and about all the people in the small family she was a part of. In fact, she was so wrapped up in talking to Sophie that she didn't notice Nate stepping in with Alex.

Nate held back his laughter at the sight of his wife talking adamantly to their daughter. It was good to see Elena fully recharged and obviously filled with joy. He felt a small tug on his jeans and looked down at Alex, who was unsure of how to make of his mother's current behavior.

"Why is Mommy acting all silly?"

"First, she's not acting silly. Second, she was like this after you were born." Nate ruffled Alex's hair.

"Really?"

"Yup. After she had a chance to get some sleep, all your mom wanted to do was smother you with love." He picked up his son, "C'mon. It's time to go meet your baby sister." He walked over, a small smile forming on his face as he felt Alex shifting nervously in his grasp. Elena finally took notice of them and gave them a bright smile.

"There are my two favorite boys!" Her smile became gentle as she noticed Alex nervously staring at Sophie. "Sophie, this is your big brother, Alex." The little boy froze as Nate placed him on the bed. "Go ahead, Alex. She won't bite." Elena gently teased.

"H-hi." He jumped as Sophie began to gurgle and coo. Alex looked to both of his parents, who gave him encouraging smiles. If he had been older, he would have noticed how his father was fidgeting and how his mother kept glancing between him and his sister. "Why is she so tiny?"

"Because she's a baby." Elena answered.

"Will she always be this small?"

"Well, she's always going to be smaller than you. You're the big brother after-all."

"Remember what I told you about big brothers, buddy?" Nate asked, ruffling the small boy's hair again. Alex stared up at his father for a moment before turning to look at his sister.

Elena and Nate both held their breaths. This was something they had talked about over and over again; how to introduce Alex to Sophie. Elena had wanted to wait till they brought her home, but Nate of course, wanted to let Alex see his sister right away. They had listed the pros and cons, the worst possible outcomes, and continued to discuss the topic until Elena had to leave for the hospital. That day, Alex had come running up, his little bag filled with books and toys. He begged and cried to come with them so that way he could the first person to say hello to his sister. And in the end, Nate promised that the moment he could, he would come a grab Alex so that way he could see his baby sister.

"Hi. I'm your big brother. We're gonna do lots of stuff and I'm gonna teach you everything." And with that, Alex unexpectedly started saying many of the same things his mother told him after he was born. He seemed to forget that his parents were in the room, but that was alright.

Both adults smiled at one another before turning their attention back on their children. They let Alex talk the whole time, answering his questions he had from time to time (his biggest one was what on earth breast-feeding was, which was slightly awkward for Nate to explain). And by the time Sully was able to arrive, Alex had worn himself out and had, for the first time in months, willingly took a nap next to his mother.

* * *

><p><em>And there we have it.<em>  
><em>Sophie's first twelve to twenty-four hours into the world.<br>For those of you curious, Alex was born in the late afternoon while Sophie was born in the late evening.  
><em>

_The musical inspiration would be the soundtracks to my two favorite indie games, both from_ thatgamecompany_.  
><em>Journey_ and _Flower_.__  
><em>


	27. Pains of Getting Published, Train Wreck

_It's been awhile! Just to let you people know, fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender will find a fun cameo. _**  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>The Pains of Getting Published<strong>

It started like any other morning when they were traveling. The alarm clock went off and Nate slammed the snooze button. Elena mumbled something about breaking the alarm clock. Whether it was telling him to break it or not could be anyone's guess, but the two slowly began to roll out of bed. Elena stole the bathroom first, letting Nate start the process of making coffee before his morning shower. He rummaged around the small kitchenette for something to eat before settling on some toast. Nate leaned against the counter and stared at his laptop as he waited for coffee and toast. The temptation to check his email was biting at his heels.

"Shower's yours." Elena kissed his stubble covered cheek before pouring herself a cup of coffee. She noticed him staring at the laptop, "Check it later. It'll be there when you get done." He gave her small smile and nodded before heading to the bathroom. A sigh past her lips as she heard the shower start back up. Elena knew he was expecting a response from a publishing company today, and she wasn't sure if either of them wanted to find out what it said. Nate had been rejected by the last twelve. It certainly made her husband feel frustrated and defeated, and she understood completely. It was what she went through at the start of her career, still went through now and then. Elena at least hoped whatever publisher he had sent his book to wouldn't suggest changes. The last publisher had the gall to completely change one of the characters. She had been eagerly listening while Nate was talking to the publisher, helping him take notes and find certain sections so he could look at them as well. After-all, it was one thing to remember that crazy adventure; it was another to remember how he wrote it. It was all going well until…well…

_"We just have one small problem."_

_ Nate looked over at Elena, both of them wearing a small look of confusion, "And that would be…?" _

_ "The female protagonist, Lucy. She's wonderful, but we feel like she's a little too strong."_

_ Elena was ready to fly to New York and punch the guy in the face. Nate looked like he was ready shoot the man. "What do you mean by 'too strong'?"_

_ "We just find it hard to believe that a young woman with no experience with a gun would be such an expert shot in such a short amount of time. Some of our female editors who read it feel like Lucy needs to be a little more keyed down, a little more relatable."_

_ The two of them were silent for a moment. A look of disbelief was written all over their faces. "Are you telling me to turn this into a romance novel?"_

_ "It could work! And you did say that this would be the first book in series. There's no doubt in my mind that it could the next Indiana Jones!"_

_ "I can't change Lucy."_

_ "Are you sure?"_

_ "Sir, if this gets taken up as a series, she's in the next two books. To change her changes everything." Elena took hold of his hand and weaved her fingers through his. _

_ "You-you…you already have the next two books written up?"_

_ "I'm at least half-way done with the second book and I already know how that's going to end." He squeezed her hand, "And all the details and plot points are written up for the third book."_

_ "Well it's not too late to make some changes! I'm sure we can find a way make it work!"_

_ "I'm not changing anything." And with that, Nate hung up the phone._

Both of them had ranted and raved after that little episode and after they had cooled down considerably, Nate came to the decision to take a break from submitting _Drake's Fortune_ for awhile. It was a decision Elena agreed with, and she made sure that he knew that. And, of course, he made sure to show her how much she meant to him.

It had been two weeks since then and now they were in Greece for her latest assignment. Nate of course being the historical expert and bodyguard. Not that either of them were expecting much trouble on this assignment, but it never hurt to be prepared. Nate had surprised her a few nights ago by informing her about submitting his book again. A part of her just wanted to distract him completely, to try and make him forget about checking his email. But that was a bad idea. If it was another 'thanks, but no thanks', it was easier to try and pick up Nate's mood throughout the day (and possibly with some sex before bed) than trying to before bed.

_Just let him find out now Elena… It'll be easier for the both of us…_ Elena sighed and poured some coffee.

* * *

><p>"MY CABBAGES!" Elena held back a laugh as Nate tired to apologize to the cabbage merchant. It wasn't even Nate's fault that the stand holding the cabbages fell over. Really, he had just looked at it and then it fell over as he started to walk away. She couldn't hold her laughter back when Nate gave her a pleading look, silently begging her to step in and intervene. She was tempted not to, but knowing their luck, Nate would be bullied into purchasing all the 'ruined' cabbages. So being the nice person and wife she was, Elena came over and calmed the man down, offering to help pick up everything at least.<p>

"For a minute there, I thought you were going to leave me on my own." Nate said with a nervous chuckle.

"Oh, c'mon now! You know I've always got your back." She took hold of his hand as they continued walking on. "Besides, we couldn't have afforded all those cabbages anyway." Nate let out another chuckle before getting that far off look in his eyes. "Hey," she squeezed his hand, drawing his attention back to her, "it'll be okay. We'll find somebody who will just edit and publish, not try and get their name on the cover too."

He smiled at her and returned her squeeze, tossing his arm around her shoulders. "Still angry at the asshole who wanted to change you."

"You're always angry whenever someone says anything negative about me, fictional me or real me." Elena laughed.

"But fictional you and real you are the same person!" He lowered his arm down to her waist, letting travel lower.

"Watch those hands…"

"But you've got such a sexy-"

"Save it for tonight." She grabbed his hand and placed it back high up on her hips.

Nate quirked an eyebrow, a lop-sided grin appearing on his face, "Is that a promise?"

"God! You're such a hornball." Elena said with a slight laugh, wrapping an arm around his waist.

He laughed, "Admit it. You like that side of me."

* * *

><p><strong>Searching the Train Wreck<strong>

Debris seemed to cover everything. Train cars, crates, pieces of railroad and train. God, what the hell happened? Elena zipped her coat up higher before pulling out her gun and jumping out of the four-by-four, praying that Nate was still alive. The blizzard that had happened last night had slowed her considerably. The idea that Nate could still be out here… that he was most likely out in that blizzard… She shook her head, trying to clear out all the worst-case-scenarios playing through her mind. Elena would find out what exactly happened here after she found Nate and made sure he was okay.

She looked inside in nearly every train car, her stomach churning every time she saw patches of dried blood. The bodies of dead mercenaries gave her mixed emotions; seeing them meant that Nate had fought his way out, but to see the large number bullet holes in walls made her worry for his state of being. Nate hardly ever missed a target. Sure he would miss his mark every now and then, especially when what he was shooting at was moving, but not like this. She moved faster, frantic to find any sign of Nate. Hell, even Chloe would do. Though if Elena found Chloe at this moment, she would mostly beat the crap out of the dark-haired woman.

It felt like days as Elena walked from one end of the wreckage to the other. All she seemed to find was more debris, dead mercenaries, and guns and ammunition. Desperation and panic clawed its way into her thought process; fear ate away at her insides. The strong, frigid mountain air bit at her hands and face, doing nothing to ease her fears. She couldn't fight back the images of Nate buried in the snow, cold as the wind whipping around her face. It nearly brought her to tears.

She felt her foot hit something hard and she prayed that it just another gun. Elena dug through the snow and found a gun. Nate's gun. It no longer looked like the well-cared for weapon she knew it was; there was so much dried blood on it…. She clutched the gun to her chest, fighting back tears. _I shouldn't have let him go alone. I should have gone with him._ Elena looked around, bringing herself to her feet. All that was before her was train wreckage. She had to find him. She had to find him now. She had to see him now.

"NATHAN!" Her voice echoed off of every surface, the howling winds were her only reply. She looked behind her and saw the open expanse. If Nate fought and climbed his way out of here, he had to have gone this way. With new-found resolve, she moved back to her four-by-four as fast as she could.

* * *

><p>"<em>He's in here.<em>" Tenzin said softly, "_Your friend hasn't really woken up, but the few times he has been awake, it's been gibberish. At least to most of us. The doctor and Schäfer are the only ones who really speak your language fluently._" Elena nodded, thankful she had taken the time to learn Tibetan before she went to Nepal. She followed Tenzin, inquiring after Nate's health and condition. He had answered her to the best of his abilities. "_He was in very bad shape when I came across him. He became unconscious just after I got to him. I was worried that he would die before I could get him, but your friend… He's quite determined to live it seems._"

Elena could help but laugh a little, "_Nate's always been like that_. Too stubborn for his own good." She murmured the last bit.

Elena hunched her shoulders up and rubbed her hands together. Night was setting in, making the air colder. Her hands were freezing…_Damn. I should have brought gloves._ She looked around the village, watching as children ran into their homes and the smoke coming out of the chimneys thicken. Tenzin, noticing Elena's shivering, reassured her that they were almost to his home where Nate was being taken care of and pointed out his home for her. She was grateful when they reached Tenzin's home and happier to see Nate lying on the bed. Elena rushed over to his side, taking one of his hands into hers.

He was pale, but nothing like death warmed over. His breathing was even, if a little on the shallow end, but Elena could tell he would be okay. The doctor confirmed it for her when he stopped by to check on Nate. He had to actually tell Elena several times to not worry and go get something to eat. She was reluctant, but Tenzin's daughter Pema was able to tug her over to the small table. The little girl turned out to be a wonderful distraction for Elena.

"_Are you his wife?_" was Pema's first question for Elena. Apparently she was very eager to learn about both strangers. The question though had stunned Elena for a moment.

"_No. Nate and I are very good friends._"

"_Really?_"

"_Pema, don't ask such intrusive questions._" Tenzin chided.

"_It's alright, I don't mind too much. We've traveled together enough that the question doesn't really bother me anymore._" Elena laughed.

"_Traveled? Have you been all over the world?_" Pema starting asking about all the places Elena had been to and eventually was told the story of how Elena and Nate met. Pema was completely enthralled by the tale. It was a great distraction for Elena, but after Pema and Tenzin turned in for the night, she was left with her own thoughts.

She couldn't sleep. Her eyes kept straying over to the bed Nate was in. Eventually Elena gave up trying to get sleep and sat up. She wrapped a thick blanket around her shoulders and made her way over to Nate's bed. Easing herself into the chair, she studied all the new scars on his face. A cut on the bottom on his lip, a large cut on his forehead and numerous nicks on his forehead and chin. She gently took hold of his hand, happy to feel that his hand was slightly warmer than hers. Elena held his hand to her cheek, wishing that he was doing the action on his own. Memories seeped into her mind's eye. Days when they would run around ruin together, stealing kisses every now and then, days when they would be like any couple. Elena sighed, running a hand through her hair as she continued observing him. She couldn't help but wonder if they would be here now if they had stayed together. Their break-up had been mutual. They were going on different paths. Elena was being taken more seriously as a reporter and Nate, of course, continued on with his fortune/treasure hunting. It was a good idea to call it quits when they were heading different directions, right? They had both been so sure of it at the start, so why the hell was she repeatedly lying awake at night wondering if she made the right decision? Elena wouldn't lie to herself, when Nate had run into her and Jeff in Nepal, all those emotions she thought she had abandon and locked away had completely flooded her. But she knew that trouble always seemed to follow him. And it hurt to see him with the slightly taller, dark-haired woman.

God, now that she really thought about it, she was still in love with him. Probably more so now than when they broke up. A quiet groan left her at the thought, her head falling into her hands. This could be bad, very bad.

"Ugh… 'Lena…?" She jumped at the sound of Nate's voice. Elena felt herself smile, grasping one of his hands in hers.

"I'm right here Nate." Elena noted the sleepy, glazed look in his eyes. He probably wouldn't remember this conversation.

"Good. I swear… I've been having really weird dreams…" he told her groggily, slowly wrapping his fingers around her hand.

"Really weird dreams?"

"Yeah…people I don't know speaking some strange language I don't understand." Elena couldn't help but giggle at that.

"What happened, Nate?" He gave her a confused look, "On the train?"

"Bad stuff… Flynn is an asswipe." Nate's words began to slur, his eyelids started to droop. Elena sighed. It was probably a bad idea to try and get anything more out of him at the moment.

"Get some rest Nate." She whispered.

"You'll be here?" Elena looked at him in disbelief for several moments, trying to fight back the blush forming on her cheeks. "…'Lena…?"

"I'll…I'll be here Nate."

"Good… I don't like not knowing where you are…" he drifted off to sleep, leaving Elena in a slightly dazed state.


	28. A Waiting Game, Attempt at Kidnapping

**A Waiting Game**

Nate could feel his foot tapping as he waited for Elena. She hadn't come out of the bathroom yet. A frustrated sigh past his lips, at a loss on what he should do. He looked at the direction of the small bathroom, gnawing on his lower lip before getting off the bed. Slowly Nate approached the closed door, pushing his nerves away as best as he could. He could hear Elena muttering to herself on the other side of the door and hesitated knocking.

"Daddy?" Alex tugged on Nate's pant leg.

"Hey champ," he bent down and picked up his son, "You're supposed to be taking a nap right now."

"Where's Mommy?" When he didn't get a reply he looked at the closed bathroom door. "Is she in there?"

"Yeah. She's feeling a little… under the weather." Nate sighed before giving Alex a smile. "She'll be okay Alex. She'll come out when she's ready. C'mon, you need to take your nap." He looked back towards the bathroom down before heading to Alex's room. The kid was already falling asleep in his arms. Carefully loosening Alex's tiny fingers from his shirt, Nate tucked the sleeping child in his bed. A loud sigh left him. Alex was going to need a hair cut soon… Nate gently ruffled Alex's hair before heading back to the master bedroom.

Elena was sitting on the bed, staring blankly at the piece of plastic in her hands. He took a spot next to her, once again unsure if he should say anything.

"It's positive." Elena said quietly, answering Nate's silent question. He nodded before taking hold of one of her hands. "Do you… do you think that we can handle another baby?"

"I don't know." They were silent for several long minutes, both of them staring at the wall in front of them. "I don't know, but we'll think of something."

"Nate…"

"I can always write trashy romance novels." Elena tried to hold back her laughter, but ultimately failed. "It could work. If Nicholas Sparks can write the same damn book seventeen times, why can't I?"

"Nate, I don't think you want to be associated with grocery store novels." Elena chuckled.

"Who said I had to use my name? I could use a pen-name." Nate gave her a smile, gently squeezing her hand. "We've got to schedule a doctor's appointment first."

She nodded, "Yeah… never know when you've got the crappy one of the bunch." She tossed the small plastic pregnancy test into the trash can by the bathroom door. It missed, but Elena didn't seem to notice. She rested her head on his shoulder. "I feel like an idiot."

"Why?"

"I should have known, at least recognized the signs that I was possibly pregnant again." Elena sighed.

"I guess with some things, we'll never learn our lesson, huh?" Nate suggested. She nodded, a quiet sigh passing her lips, enjoying the rare quiet filling the house.

* * *

><p><strong>A (Poor) Attempt At Kidnapping<strong>

Elena let out a noise of frustration as someone yanked off the bag that was over her head. She glared at the man before her before taking in her surroundings. Dark, probably some office to a warehouse, two other men standing nearby, and one door. Well, looked like Nate was right about this one. Again. But how was she supposed to know that wannabe kidnappers would take an interest in her? All she was doing was getting a civilian point of view of the conflict in the area. Well, apparently that wasn't something this local group of thugs liked and they decided to kidnap her and tie her to a chair. Probably with the intention of making an 'example' out of her.

"You've been causing us a lot of problems Miss Drake." The man in front of her said, beginning what no doubt be a long monologue of a boring villain-style dialogue. "Far too many problems."

"So you kidnapped me in the middle of the day when my husband's back was turned?" Elena asked dryly, her voice monotone.

"We probably should have grabbed him too, huh? Showed him how a real man keeps a handle on his wife."

_Oh wonderful. A common thug who thinks he owns the town and is a stereo-typical bastard._ Elena sighed, shaking her head as the man commented on Nate's 'lack of real strength'. Apparently these were the type of muscle headed type of guys.

"Does the name 'Nathan Drake' mean nothing to you guys?" Elena asked, interrupting the man's rant.

"What the fuck does a name have to do with anything?!"

Elena quirked an eyebrow, "You must be new to the whole business then." The man snarled at her, "After-all, most gangs or organizations tend not to mess with him now."

"Oh? And why do you think you're so called husband could do anything?"

"Let me think… He's found three lost cities, survived a gunshot that would have killed most men. Fought his way out of more enemy encampments than I can count on everyone's appendages here in this room. And the last time I checked, he has a long list of guns he knows how to use, along with the fact that he's probably already figured out wherever we are and is about to kick everyone's ass." Elena paused for a moment, "Did I mention that he tends to have an overprotective streak and has killed practically an entire arm before to get to his father when he was kidnapped?" She tried not to laugh as the men around her paled slightly and gave her looks of disbelief. "I didn't? Hm, must have slipped my mind."

The leader seemed like he was about to say something when his radio sparked to life. The sound of someone rapidly speaking the local dialect was almost drowned out by the sound of gunfire. The conversation didn't last long before everything went silent and then Nate's voice came over the radio.

"Hey, asswipes. I know you've got my wife and I'm coming to get her. So you've got two choices, hand her over and nobody else gets killed or hurt. Second option involves you getting shot." The leader yelled something into the radio. Elena got the gist that he wasn't going to cooperate with her husband. "Fine then. I'll see you in a few Elena." Nate then growled something to the leader before the radio went silent. Moments passed in complete silence before orders were given and Elena watched as the other two men scrambled out of the room before leader turned to her.

"I'll deal with you when I get back from putting a bullet between your husband's eyes!" he said menacingly. It didn't even frighten Elena. _He could at least try to point a gun in my direction._

"Have fun getting shot!" Elena called out as the man left the room. The door slammed shut, leaving Elena alone in the small, mostly dark room and tied to a chair. She looked around again, humming a random tune now and then. She kept shifting in the chair, wishing she was tied to a chair with arm rests. At least then she would be able to check her watch and figure out how long she had actually been there. Gun fire started echoing from… somewhere… and Elena decided to try and shuffle her chair towards the wall to her left. It looked the desk on that side of the room had some sort of sharp, shiny instrument that she could possibly cut the ropes around her wrists.

Elena grumbled as she fumbled to grab, what look like, a small dagger. It probably didn't help that she kept looking over at the door. The gunfire stopped the moment she grabbed the dagger and Elena froze, her eyes focused on the door. Carefully she began to saw through the rope, biting back a groan of frustration when she discovered the dagger was blunt. The door was suddenly and brutally forced open, banging against the wall and Nate falling to the ground, causing Elena to drop the dagger. He grumbled something that sounded like 'momentum is a bitch' as he got up and brushed off the dust his jeans. She smiled at him as he looked in her direction, taking note of all the grazes, nicks and cuts, and bruises forming. He smiled back at her and quickly made his way over to her.

"Well… I wasn't really expecting the old 'tie-the-damsel-to-a-chair' routine." Nate chuckled, leaning over of her.

"Not a creative bunch, huh?" Elena tried to lean towards him, wishing even more now that the chair had arm rests. She eagerly watched him lean closer, returning his sly smile.

"When are they ever creative?" Nate titled his head towards her ear, "But I do have to admit, the 'tied-to-the-chair' look... it gives me a number of ideas." He brought her lips to hers, drawing a low moan from her. They slowly pulled apart and Elena pouted. "Those assholes didn't do anything to you, did they?" He let out a sigh of relief as she shook her head.

"You should hurry up and untie me." She said, what she hoped was in a sensual tone. Elena wasn't disappointed as she watched Nate lick his lips and grab the legs of her chair and drag her towards him. He untied her legs first before leaning over her again and undoing the ropes around her wrists. She watched as he gently kissed each wrist, both of them rubbed raw and red. "C'mon. Let's get out of here before some form of law enforcement shows up."

"Ugh, please. I don't want to spend another minute here." She slowly got up, not surprised by the pins & needles feeling in her ankles and feet. She held onto to Nate's hand as he led her out of warehouse.

"It wasn't too hard to find you." Nate began to explain, "All I had to do was ask if anyone had seen a group of guys carrying a blonde, American woman and which way did they go. And everyone was willing to point the way."

Elena laughed at that. "God! That bad at the organized crime?!"

"It would seem so. But I'm not going to lie, you're gonna have to look like a trophy wife for awhile." He shot her smile as she scoffed at the idea, "Just for a little bit. Besides, I like having you on my arm."

She shook her head as she looped her arm through his, "I could say the same for you Nate." Elena shielded her eyes from the glare of the setting sun before they head over to the rented jeep. "We're gonna have to clean you up before we go anywhere else." She said as she took in her husband's various new battle wounds again.

"Good thing we're going back to the hotel, huh?" He replied with a laugh as he started up the vehicle. She smiled, resting her head on his shoulder as he drove.

"For a minute there, it was kind of like the old days, wasn't it?" Elena said softly. Nate took her hand in his, holding it tightly.

"For a minute..." he kissed the back of her hand, "But you're better than any handful of gold coins."

She laughed again, "Good to know you're creating your own cheesy lines."


	29. History Project and Movie Night

**History Project – or – Gaining a New Friend**

"Are you sure your dad is going to be okay with us using his notes?" Victoria asked as she and Joel followed Alex to the 'infamous' Drake house.

"Don't worry too much about it Vic!" Joel laughed, earning a glare from her. "Mr. Drake really doesn't care if we borrow his notes or not."

"But what about Miss Bonnibel? I heard you got into a lot of trouble for using your dad's notes on the Crusades." Victoria went on, "Are you sure this isn't going to be a problem?"

Alex shrugged, "It's not like we're stealing research. Dad keeps all of the books he's ever used for research. For our report on the Crusades, me and Joel just looked over Dad's notes and then researched on things that we wanted to expand on. It's not cheating. It's using our resources."

"Yeah! I'd bet you twenty bucks Bonnibel wouldn't have an issue if his dad was a history professor or something." Joel gave Victoria an encouraging pat on the back as Alex smiled at her. "Don't worry your pretty lil' head off! We'll get an A without issues!"

"Well I didn't doubt about getting a good grade. I mean, both of his parents write for a living." She sighed, giving Alex a playful shove as they walked up to the Drake home.

Joel gave Alex's shirt a quick tug, making him stop. "Uh…You know she's never been over before." Alex quirked an eyebrow and Victoria gave the pair a confused look. "Don't you think she deserves a fair warning?"

"A fair warning for what?" she asked.

Alex turned to face her, rubbing the back of his neck. "About my parents."

"What about 'em? From what I've heard, they're sound like anyone's parents." Alex gave her a strange look. "Okay. So they sound a little odd-"

"It's about what you're most likely gonna see when you step inside my house anytime." Alex interrupted. "My parents have never really left the honeymoon stage." Victoria froze. Her mouth opened and then closed it. Alex looked down at his feet, shuffling back and forth nervously.

"Oh...okay?" Was all she said in reply. Joel stood there awkwardly, watching the two of them do their nervous shuffles.

"Uh… Let's go in?" Joel finally said, motioning towards the front door. "History projects don't start by themselves." Alex laughed and led everyone in. Leave it to Joel to break tension.

"Mom? Dad?" Alex shouted, not bothering with an 'I'm home'.

"In the kitchen!" Elena shouted back. The three teenagers heard giggling as they got closer to the kitchen. Joel comically covered his eyes with his hands as they walked in and Victoria rolled her eyes and laughed a little at the action. Though as they filed into the kitchen she could see why he Elena and Nathan Drake were practically plastered against one another; Elena was giggling like mad as her husband placed kisses up and down her jaw-line and neck. Needless to say, Victoria's face was a very good impression of a tomato as they walked in.

"Hey guys." Alex said, "I brought Joel and Victoria over. We got a project for history we need to do."

His parents broke apart to officially meet and greet Victoria. "You must be Victoria. Nice to finally put a face to the name." Nate held out his hand and she shyly shook it.

"Nice to meet you too Mr. Drake, Mrs. Drake." She smiled at both of Alex's parents, her nerves of being in a slightly strange home melting away. It didn't feel like she had just walked in on something intimate.

"Bonnibel's pretty big on the group projects it seems." Nate mused as he shook hands with Joel.

"Yup. We got a theory on that." Nate quirked an eyebrow, cueing Joel to continue. "Alex and I think she's trying to teach the slackers to slack and the ones who actually do all the work not to depend on anyone." Nate laughed at that.

"So what have you guys have to report on? Elizabethan? Victorian? Renaissance?" Nate asked.

"We chose the Italian Renaissance." Victoria supplied, "We were, uh, kind of hoping you lend us your notes."

Nate and Elena laughed. "Yeah! Go for it." Nate clapped his son on the back, "Let me go ahead and grab my notes and stuff ya. Gonna set camp in the living room again?" Alex nodded and after a quick gathering of snacks and beverages, they headed out to the living room. Both adults in the house brought out every book, notebook and scrap piece of paper Nate had on the Italian Renaissance. Victoria gaped at the tall stack of books that was placed on the coffee table.

"That's…that's a lot of books." Victoria said in awe as she picked the closest one up. Alex laughed as he and Joel started sorting through the material.

"Well, considering that the basement is essentially a library, this is just a small amount of what we probably could use." Alex explained as he flipped through a particularly old looking book. Victoria just nodded as she helped organize things.

"See? Told ya you didn't have to worry about anything. We got all that we need right here!" Joel said, patting the stack of books in front of him for emphasis.

Victoria smiled, "We totally got this in the bag."

* * *

><p>The three of them sat quietly in front of Miss Bonnibel's desk, all of them staring at the counselor and their history teacher as they talked. "Now, no one is accusing you of anything!" the counselor Mr. Hardly said, "But some of your fellow peers have expressed concern that the three of you may have received more than acceptable amount of help for your last project." The man gave a set of nervous twitches. How this man became a high school counselor was something Alex, Joel, and Victoria all wondered. Mr. Hardly seemed way too timid and naive to be working in an advice giving position. Or just working directly with opinionated people.<p>

"We just want to ensure that you didn't have an unfair advantage." Miss Bonnibel added on.

Victoria frowned and glanced over at her friends. Both looked completely at ease with the conversation. "All Mr. Drake did was bring out books and we just picked and choose what we wanted to use."

"Vicky! We're not accusing you of anything!" Mr. Hardly exclaimed, missing how Victoria glared at him. She hated it when people shortened her name.

"You know we did this last time." Joel yawned, leaning back in his chair. "And the project before that, and that big, take-home test two weeks ago."

"The last time my parents actually helped me out with a project was back in the fourth grade for a science project." Alex said as he mimicked Joel.

The five people in the room watched one another. The three teenagers waiting for the authority figures to make their move; Miss Bonnibel was treating this like a chess match while Mr. Hardly was in his usual skittish state of trying to 'peacefully' resolve things. To Alex and Joel's surprise, it was Victoria who broke the stalemate.

"Are there any other students who've been ask to see you for presenting a project that surpasses expectations?" she asked.

"No, but none of your peers are in the position –"

"-To receive help from a parent who is willing to lend the same resources he used to write a historically accurate series." Victoria finished for Miss Bonnibel, expanding on what their history teacher was trying to say. "I think the three of us would be more understanding if we had done a project looking into the possibility of Mr. Drake's _Creed_ series. However, we did a project over the connection between the art of the time and religion." She gave her mother's cold smile, the one that she gave to her opponents in court. The one that challenged the other person to prove her wrong. With Miss Bonnibel looking at a loss for words and Mr. Hardly shaking and turning slightly pale, Victoria would say it was working. "Hardly something to get worked up over, especially in an advanced placement class."

"Well, I-I suppose not."

"Then I don't see why we're having this conversation. After-all, there's more joy in knowing you set the bar higher by your own efforts and within the boundaries set. Wouldn't you agree?"

Miss Bonnibel and Mr. Hardly nodded, both of them unsure of what force they had just unleashed. "Well," Mr. Hardly cleared his throat. Completely unsure of what to say next, he stuttered before finally speaking a full coherent sentence. "We just wanted to make sure!" All three teenagers could see Miss Bonnibel resisting the urge to face-palm and smack Mr. Hardly at the same time.

"It's understandable but I'm willing to assure you that since there's a history of this, I will be informing both of my parents of this." Victoria had to fight down the evil smile at the questioning looks of the authority figures in front of her. "They're both lawyers. Are we free to go now?" She didn't even wait for an answer as she got up from her seat, Joel and Alex eagerly following her lead. "Have a nice day Miss Bonnibel, Mr. Hardly." They said with a wave as they walked out of the door. The three of them held back their laughter until they reached their lunch spot. Joel practically fell to the ground while Alex tossed his arm around Victoria.

"That was great!" Alex said between bouts of laughter, "I've never been able to get 'em to squirm like that!"

"Oh~! That felt good!" Victoria said with a stretch, "Do you guys go through that every time you do a project?"

"Eh, mostly with Miss Bonnibel." Joel replied with a shrug.

"I think she just gets upset that I tend to know more than her." Alex replied, easing himself on the ground. "But it's like this every year. I'm sure my parents would love to tell you about my elementary days where I was correcting my teachers about Columbus and other wonderful half-lies they tell you."

"So… Bonnibel is just in a long list of teachers who don't know what to do with you and your ever growing knowledge of history." Victoria mused.

"Sounds about right." Alex looked over at her, "Are your parents really lawyers?"

"Yup. Well, my dad is a legal consultant and my mom is the lawyer. You learn a lot of interesting ways of making people uncomfortable." She shot him a smile before plopping herself between Joel and Alex. "You know, I've never tried the 'I-dare-you' smile before. That was fun!" Both boys laughed and they all pulled out their lunches.

"Well! Now that is all done!" Joel said loudly, standing and holding up his drink, Alex joining him. "I would like to inform you, Miss Victoria L. Evardeer, that Mr. Alexander Sullivan Drake and I, Mr. Joel von Allmen-Bree, would like to officially invite you into our club of gentlemen!" Victoria laughed at Joel's overly dramatic tone of voice.

"Club of Gentlemen? Sounds very exclusive." She teased.

"Well, you will be the first lady to join if you accept our invitation Miss Evardeer." Alex said in the same overly dramatic tone.

She laughed, "And how many people are members of this fine Club of Gentlemen the pair of you are a part of?" She matched their overly dramatic tone.

"As of this precise moment, Mr. Allmen-Bree and myself." Victoria laughed and picked herself off the ground. She held up her water bottle.

"Mr. Drake, Mr. Allmen-Bree, after much consideration, I, Miss Victoria Lawliet Evardeer, humbly accept your invitation to join your Club of Gentlemen." Victoria said in her best British accent. Her two companions quirked their eyebrows.

"Lawliet?" Joel asked.

"Yeah. It was my great uncle's name." Victoria explained.

"Alright then." Alex cleared his throat and returned to their overly dramatic tone. "Then, Miss Victoria Lawliet Evardeer! Let us welcome you to our highly esteemed Club of Gentlemen. I see many years of friend ship ahead of us." He lifted his water bottle, the other two following his lead. "To you, Miss Evardeer!"

She laughed as they 'clinked' their drinks together and sipped their drinks. "I'm not going to lie; this is the fastest I've ever made friends." They drew her into an awkward three person hug.

"Well, you're going to have a hard time getting rid of us!" Joel chuckled, Alex nodding in agreement.

"I guess three weeks and a group project is all you really need to make good friends." Alex commented as they sat themselves back onto the grass.

"Probably helps that I totally owned Miss Bonnibel." Victoria giggled.

* * *

><p><strong>Movie Night – or – Italian Horror Film<strong>

The large group of teenagers were utterly silent, all of them completely transfixed by the images on the screen. Sophie and Casey huddled together under a blanket, their friend Robin sitting on the floor in front of them, hand frozen in mid-air. Joel's mouth hung open while Victoria clung onto Alex's arm. Alex just stared wide-eyed. They had heard that _Suspiria_ was one of the scariest films of cinema, but they didn't really believe it. They had expected it to be overly melodramatic and silly, after-all it was made in 1977. But barely fifteen minutes in and they had all just watched a woman get stabbed multiple times and then fall through a large stain glass window.

"A-Alex?" Sophie whimpered softly.

"Yeah?"

"How long is this movie exactly?"

Alex grabbed the DVD case and looked down. "An hour and thirty-eight minutes." He heard Victoria let out a small 'meep'. "Does anyone want to turn a light on?" They all looked at each other for a few moments. No one dared to move from their spots, "Okay. We can finish this in the dark." Sophie, Casey, and Robin huddled closer together. Victoria clenched onto Alex's arm a little tighter and Joel moved a little closer to the middle of the floor space in front of the couch. Alex hit the play button, removing the film from its paused state.

* * *

><p>"It's horror night for them, right?" Elena asked as they turned into their driveway.<p>

"Yup. I don't think we'll have anything to worry too much though. I don't think anything they picked out is going to really scare them." Nate laughed. They got out of the car, joking about how nearly all the lights were off. The first thing both adults noticed was how seemingly quiet it was in the house. Elena gave Nate a questioning look and all he could do was shrug.

"Go check on them, okay?" she asked, removing her coat. He nodded and headed to the living room. He paused as he saw Sophie and her friends huddled together under a blanket on the floor. Nate looked over to where his son was sitting to find that Joel leaning as far away from the TV as possible and Victoria was all but in cowering in Alex's lap.

"Uh, this is an unusual sight." Nate said loud enough for them to hear. All six of them jumped and screamed. Then the movie they were watching began playing some sort of creepy music, which really made them all squirm.

"Oh god!" Sophie wailed, "Someone's gonna die!"

"I'm never gonna get this out of my head!" Casey moaned.

Nate couldn't help but noticed that none of them were looking away from the TV though. "Uh… what we all watching?" he asked.

"_Suspiria_." They all answered in unison. He nodded and stepped into the living room, being sure not to block the TV too much. It wasn't too hard to find the DVD case. A quick look at the front told him all he needed to know. _"One of the Scariest Movies of all Time"_ it said. He watched as the camera zoomed around the dark open plaza type setting, jumping (but definitely not screaming) as a dog suddenly attacked the man on screen. Nate eyes widen at the bright, rich colour the blood was in this movie. Sure, he had seen plenty of dead bodies to fill his lifetime, and every movie with blood in it tried to make it realistic. Not this one apparently. Apparently this one liked to make every colour as vivid as possible. He set the case down and walked out. Might as well let them finish their movie.

"What's with all the screaming?" Elena laughed as he came into the kitchen.

"Eh, the movie they're watching has them really creeped out apparently." He explained as he took off his tie.

"Oh? And what movie would that be?"

"_Suspiria_. Looks like I'm gonna have to give a go." Nate looked up at his wife, who had a surprised look on her face. "What? Have you seen it?"

"Yes actually, while I was in college. The student union did this thing of showing old horror movies on Halloween and my roommates dragged me to go see it." She laughed, "No wonder that music seemed familiar!"

"Is it really that scary? It kind of seems like a movie full of jump moments." He chuckled.

"Yeah but from what I remember, I got scared because I would be looking at all the gorgeous set pieces and then be put on edge during the killing scenes. It was my first Italian horror film if I remember correctly."

"Okay, I'll give it that." The two of them looked towards the living room, "Should we be expecting nightmares from the six of them?"

"Maybe. I know I was a little jumpy in rooms that were painted in bright, oversaturated colours for a little while." Elena said with a laugh.

Nate let out an airy laugh, "As long as parents don't call me about letting their kids see good, old fashioned Italian horror movies."

"You didn't know they added that into the line-up for this month?" He shook his head and Elena shrugged. "Well, neither did I. But hey! At least they're having fun." They smiled at one another and kissed. Another round of squeals, screams and 'Oh My God!'s echoed through the house. Nate and Elena stifled their laughter.

"Twenty bucks tomorrow Sophie is gonna try and figure out how they got the blood so red on that set." Nate earned a laugh with that.


	30. A Slow Recovery and The Couch

**A Slow Recovery – or – Lack of Sleep**

Nate sat frozen in his chair, clutching Elena's hand in his. He watched her chest as it rhythmically rose and fell in time with her shallow breathing. Her hand still felt a little cold, but it felt warmer than it had when he had held it days ago just outside the entrance of Shambhala. Much warmer now, but not warm enough. Nate knew how warm her hands were, could be, knew how they felt against his skin… He took in a shuddery breath, trying to clear out calm himself down. It wouldn't do him, or Elena, any good if he let his emotions take hold of him. He had to be strong for her. His grip on her hand tightened, his forehead resting on their collapsed hands.

Elena had actually woken up at one point during her recovery. Chloe was the one who had woken him up from his nap and dragged him to Elena's bedside. Unfortunately, she had fallen back asleep by the time the two of them got there. But Sully (who had arrived about two days after Nate, Elena, and Chloe reached the village) was there for Elena's few waking moments and was able to answer any questions that she had. Or at least, mumble out coherently.

_"She asked for you, Nate. More worried about you than herself."_

Nate study Elena's sleeping form; the healing cuts, the light bruising, the bandages covering her more serious wounds peeking out from underneath her shirt. A small (perhaps fragile) smile formed on his face. Of course Elena would be more worried about him; she always was worried about him. He felt like an ass, felt angry at himself. He should have been able to protect her, keep her safe. But Flynn… god-damn it, Flynn's betrayal still stung. Flynn may not have been his closest friend, but he was still a friend. But Flynn had hurt Elena. Elena didn't do anything to deserve this. He brushed that stubborn strand of hair out of her closed eyes.

"You gotta wake up soon, 'Lena." He mumbled softly, "I… I… need to know you're gonna be okay…" Nate rubbed his tired eyes, as if he could will the urge to sleep and rest away. He didn't want to sleep. The last time he slept, Elena had woken up and asked for him, and he wasn't there. He wasn't going to let that happen again. A tired sigh past his lips as he felt his head tilt forward. Nate couldn't find the will to bring his head back up as it fell onto the bed. Maybe, if Elena woke up while he was asleep, she would feel better seeing that he was there. He wouldn't be out for very long. It would just be a little nap…

* * *

><p>The first thing Elena was aware of was that everything felt sore and she felt stiff. The second thing she was aware of that something warm pressed against her side. She slowly opened her eyes, blinking several times at the light filling the room. Elena's sense slowly picked up on other things happening around her. Someone was cooking something and it smelt delicious, she could have sworn she heard Pema somewhere in the background. She looked around, making quiet noises of discomfort as her neck protested against her trying to lift her head. It took her a few moments to recollect what had happened, but they slowly trickled back into her mind. The surprise appearance of Nate's acquaintance, Flynn, the dropping of a grenade, and then being in pain. Elena looked around frantically before her eyes landed on Nate. She gave a sigh of relief as she let her tired muscles give out and let her head flop back into the pillow. If Nate was well enough to fall asleep in a chair, then she probably didn't have to worry about him too much. She carefully pulled her hand out of his loose grasp, wincing as she adjusted the blanket that someone had placed over his shoulders.<p>

"_Ah! Dad! She's awake!_" Pema cried excitedly. Elena turned and smiled at the small girl as she rushed over and shook Nate awake. He jumped a little and groaned, staring at Pema as she pointed at Elena. It was kind of funny to see Nate try and communicate with Pema. He seemed to forget that she couldn't speak English. Within a few moments though Nate looked at her and he immediately froze. His eyes widened and a large smile appeared on his face.

"Elena! You're awake." Nate whispered, grabbing hold of her hand. "Are you feeling alright?"

She nodded, doing her best to squeeze back. "Good to see you're okay too." She said quietly, her voice raspy from days of disuse. "How long was I out?"

"It's…it's been a week Elena." he murmured. She heard her breath hitch at the news. His hold on her hand tightened, "You did kind of wake up a couple of days ago. Though Sully said you were kind of out of it."

"Sully's here?"

"Yeah. He's probably still asleep right now. Jeez, I don't even know what time it is." Elena was pretty certain that he didn't mean for her to hear that last bit.

She smiled at him, "Don't tell me you've been here the whole time." Nate's sheepish smile gave him away. "Nate…"

"Not the whole time. Sully made sure of that, and then Chloe's been Miss Drill Sergeant." He told her; she could help but release the giggle that bubbled up. They fell into a comfortable silence, softly smiling at one another.

"Thank you." she murmured softly. Elena felt her eyelids droop and she began to fight to stay awake.

"For what?"

"For staying with me."

Nate smiled at her, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. She let out a noise of contentment as she leaned into his warm touch. He moved from the chair to sit on the edge of the bed, stroking her cheek. "I'm just glad that you're awake again."

Elena smiled at him and she let her eyes close, "And I'm happy you're here. You'll wake me up when the medic is here, right?"

"Just stay up a little bit longer. I'm sure he'll be here soon." Nate said a little loudly. Her smile grew a bit and she reached her free hand up to cup his rough cheek. Elena nodded, doing her best to ignore the ache that grew in her arm. Nate smiled back at her. Somewhere, in the back of both of their minds, they knew this was the first of many major turning points in their relationship. For now though, they were content, happy to have a quiet moment after another long, dangerous adventure.

* * *

><p><strong>The Couch – or – A Self-Imposed Exile<strong>

Elena sighed as she quietly strolled out into the dark living room. She pulled the comforter tighter around her shoulders as she made her way to the couch, where Nate had more or less exiled himself to when they returned from Yemen. She tried to convince him to stay in her bed, in _their_ bed. But he had been insisted that he sleep on the couch for a while, and would continue to do so until they worked through the rest of their problems. Elena could see the reason in that, knew that it was probably the wisest course for them at this moment, but she wanted her husband next to her. They didn't have to revisit their passionate nights they had in Yemen, though Elena wouldn't mind if they did. But she would feel better, sleep better if Nate would stop being so stubborn and just join her in the bed.

Another sigh past her lips as she kneeled in front of the couch, pulling the blanket that covered Nate up higher. Her hand gently travelled up to his jaw and slowly began tracing the freshly healed nicks and cuts on his face. A gentle smile found its' way on her face as Elena studied Nate's sleeping form. She almost forgot how peaceful he looked when he slept. Elena looked at Nate's phone, not too terribly surprised that it was well after midnight. There was no way she was going to be able to get some sleep tonight. Not without Nate by her side. But it had been like that for weeks.

Well, that was going to change tonight. Nate may not believe that it was a good idea for them to share the bed together, but he never said anything about the couch. With a determined look, she carefully moved Nate further back onto the couch and slowly placed herself next to him. The lack of space was obvious, but Elena couldn't help but smile as the warmth and smell she would forever associate with her husband surrounded her. Her smile grew as he unconsciously through an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. A soft sound of contentment left her as her eyes fell shut. Yes, this was what she needed.

"You're supposed to be in the bed." Nate suddenly murmured. She didn't jump though, just wriggled herself closer.

"Not the same without you." she buried her face into his shoulder, placing a light kiss there. Elena felt him attempt to move. "Don't even think about it." She threw a leg and her arms around him and held to him tightly.

He groaned in frustration. "Really Elena?"

She nodded, "If you wanna move, you're taking me with you." Another groan left him and his head flopped back onto the pillow.

"I'm not going to win this one, am I?"

Elena lifted herself and kissed him, sighing softly as he kissed her in return. "Nope." She settled herself back on the couch, "And I'll be joining on you until you come back to the bed."

"Elena…"  
>"You never said anything about the couch. Now, it's time to get some sleep."<p>

"Elena…!"

"Shush…. Sleepy time now." She felt him tense slightly before he let himself relax and pulled her closer. Yes, this was exactly what she need and with any luck, she and Nate would be sharing the same bed by the end of the week. If not, sooner.

* * *

><p><em>Sorry for the long wait but I hoped everyone enjoyed. I look forward to reading everyone's reviews! Also, if you're fans of the Assassin's Creed seriesfranchise, please check out my new fanfic, _From the Bar_. It's a Desmond/Lucy fic and AU. Again! Looking forward to everyone's reviews!_


	31. Flu Shots and a Good Day

**Flu Shots – or – One Flu, Please**

Nate slowly woke up, still feeling drowsy, overly warm and yet chilly at the same time, and full of aches. He stretched a little as he took a glance at the clock. Was it really almost five o'clock? He felt Elena stir next to him and cuddled closer before she settled. He sighed and leaned back into the couch, wrapping an arm around her. Barely two months back from Tibet and they had both caught the flu. The kicker of course was that both he and Elena had gotten a flu shot a week ago. Elena had looked like she was ready to cry when she had checked her temperature. Neither of them had forgotten the date that had been ruined by her cold turned stomach flu. Nate had tried to cheer her up, reminding her that he was ill with her too.

So here they were, sitting and napping on the couch, wrapped head to toe in blankets as they weathered through their flu. At least Elena's flu hadn't evolved into a bout of stomach flu or something more serious. _'Not yet, that is'_ he could hear Elena grumble in his head. Nate stifled a groan as he shifted in his spot. Hopefully both of them would make a quick recovery.

"I hate being sick…" Elena quietly moaned, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"You and me both." Nate murmured in agreement. "Feeling any better?"

"No, but not feeling any worse. You?"

"Same as you." he yawned, slowly beginning to feel tired again. "When did you wake up?" She shrugged and brought herself closer. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap.

"Ugh… Nate! You're all sweaty and gross." She said half-heartedly.

"I was all sweaty and gross when we ran into each other in Nepal." He chuckled as he relaxed. If he had been looking at her, he would have seen her eyes roll. But he felt her rest her head against his chest.

"Alright, I'll give you that." Elena yawned, "At least you're nice and warm."

* * *

><p><strong>A Good Day<strong>

The first thing that happened to Elena as she arrived home was Nate had bolted up to her, hugged her and then kissed her senseless. This was not a normal occurrence. In fact, this behavior from her husband startled her, made her frightened for his mental health. But then he dragged her over to his computer and showed her some documents that had been near the scanner. She stared at everything in disbelief.

"This is… this is…" she looked up at him, her hands trembling.

"A publishing contract." He finished for her, a huge grin plastered on his face. "I did it Elena. It's getting published."

They stared at one another, joyful laughter bubbling up between them both before they shared a bone-crushing embrace. He picked her up and twirled them around. After submitting his novel fourteen times, he was final getting published. Their laughter slowly died down as he came to a stop. Elena didn't even realize that she was crying tears of joy until Nate brushed them away.

"You did it." She whispered, "You really did it!" She kissed him over and over again. "We have to celebrate!"

"Fancy dinner?" He asked.

Elena thought about it for a moment before answering. "How about a fancy casual?" He nodded and quickly left to change out of his usual French sweater. She bounced on her toes as she waited for him, resisting the urge to run around the apartment and scream 'he did it' repeatedly until the neighbors complained. They were going to have to call Sully and Chloe, and Charlie of course. And then they should probably tell her parents. Maybe they would finally stop insinuating that Nate was a lazy bum. _Probably wanna wait on that. See if Mom's book club will at it to the watch list._ Elena couldn't help the (slightly) evil chuckled that left her. Oh that would be good. She could already picture how that conversation would go. _'Oh? What's that? Did my husband write that book that's on your list? Why yes he did! Did I forget to tell you about my husband's publishing contract? Oh, I did? Why, how silly of me!' _She chuckled again, a little louder this time.

"Should I be worried?"Nate asked in a chuckle of his own.

"Just thinking." She smiled at him, giggling a little at his look of mock concern.

"About…?"

"The idea of leaving my parents in the dark and see if my mother's book club adds it to their list."

He laughed, "We could always drop the bomb at Thanksgiving. You know, like it's no big deal."

She looked at him for a moment, considering it. "Oh god." Nate nodded as she bit back her laughter. "That's so mean it's perfect." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "I knew I married you for a reason."

"Because I'm good in bed and I piss off your parents?" he joked.

She shook her head, "Well, good isn't the word I would use." Nate gave her an overly dramatic face of pain, "But I'm pretty sure I married you because you make me happy."

He smiled at her and gently pulled into a tight embrace. "Just so you know, thanks for everything."

"For what? Being a good wife and friend?"

He kissed her temple, "For being supportive. For kicking my butt and telling me to keep trying after rejection number three."

"Well, if I wasn't going to do it, nobody would." Elena murmured as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "You do know that even if you weren't getting published I'd still be proud of you, right?"

"Proud of what? That I finished something that didn't involve us getting shot at?"

"Hm… sure. But I already know everything that you've accomplished." She sighed, "I'm happy that you've been able to start a new way of life."

"I couldn't have done any of this without you." Nate murmured.

* * *

><p><em>So a short one this time, but I hope everyone liked. I look forward to your reviews! I'm also (and always) open to your suggestions. I have a few ideas that I'm working on right now, but I'm curious to what people would like to see.<em>


	32. The First Time Around

**The First Time Around – or – After Seoul**

Elena stared at her phone, as if the action would make time go faster. In front of her, Nate paced back and forth. He would give her a small, nervous smile whenever he caught her staring at him. If she could, Elena was certain that she would find some humor in the fact that her husband couldn't stop moving and she couldn't seem to find the will to move. She felt frozen as they waited for the five minutes to be up. In the next five minutes, she and her husband would find out if she was pregnant. Elena felt terrified. She was certain Nate was feeling the same way. How could they not feel terrified? Just barely a month and an half ago they started considering the idea of having kids. And even then, they never really had an actual conversation about it.

"Hey."

She looked up from her phone to see Nate standing in front of her. How exactly was Nate going to handle this? From what little she knew, Nate didn't have a very good relationship with his parents.

"You know I'm all in with you, no matter what that thing says, right?" Nate said softly. He gave her a sincere smile and she returned it with a weaker one. She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in the crook of his neck. He held her tightly, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"I know. It's… it's just good to hear you say it." She whispered. A bright and cheery chime filled the room, signaling that five minutes had past. "Well, guess it's time to find out if we're going to find out what luck has in store for us."

Slowly she got off the bed and headed to the bathroom, Nate a step behind her. Biting her lower lip she gingerly picked up the white plastic strip. Elena glanced over at Nate before looking at the pregnancy test. Two plus signs. She double checked the box.

"It's positive." Elena said quietly. She didn't see Nate's reaction, she was too focused on the two, tiny, pink plus signs. "I'm pregnant."

"We're-… we're-"

"-Gonna have a baby." She turned to look at him. "We're having a baby." He repeated her in a murmur and she felt herself get teary-eyed, felt herself begin to smile.

He took a large step forward and pulled her into a tight hug, small bursts of laughter leaving him. She held onto to him tightly, feeling infinitely better at his reaction. They were going to be okay. They were going to have this baby and everything was going to be okay. Elena laughed as Nate began rambling about what they needed to get done.

"We gotta schedule you a doctor's appointment-"

"Nate!"

"-and have to let Sully and your parents know-"

"Nate!" she laughed, trying to get her husband to shut-up for all of two seconds.

"- and think of all the crap we're gonna have to buy-!"

"Nathan!"

"What?"

She kissed him, effectively shutting him up. Her smile turned into an uneasy one, "Are you happy with this?"

He looked a little stunned for a moment before placing his hands on her flat stomach, "I'm pretty sure I told you in Seoul that as long as it's with you, kids wouldn't be so bad."

"Nate… That's not really an answer."

His gaze fell back on Elena's face, "I am. I'm very happy." He smiled and kissed her, "But a part of me is still trying to wrap my head around it."

She let out a sigh of relief and nodded. "Good. I was worried for a moment you were trying to put on a brave face for me."

"I thought I had a bad poker face."

"You do."

* * *

><p><em>Just a short little drabble today. I've been working like a mad-woman on <em>From the Bar_ and been playing the new _Assassin's Creed_ games so that way I can READ ALL THE NEW FAN FICTION! Don't worry, I'll do my best to make the next section longer._


	33. Too Much to Drink

**Too Much to Drink**

Nathan Drake was drunk off his ass, that was something Sully was certain of without a doubt. Maybe he should have stopped the kid at the third or fourth beer. But from the way Nate was acting, Sully doubted he could have done much to stop him. It took the older man a half hour or so, but from Nate's slurred speech, it sounded it like he and Elena had gotten into a pretty bad fight. And it sounded like it was mostly over the new job. Not that Sully could fault the girl from being worried about it. Even from his memory, Marlowe was the type of person you didn't play around with. And he was pretty certain that Nate, with his horrible poker face, had only elevated Elena's fears about the job then calm them.

"So, what's the deal then? Elena kick you out or…?" Sully asked as he half-dragged Nate into his apartment. He hoped to god that she didn't kick the kid out. She was good for Nate, whether he knew it yet or not. The girl always tried to keep him from doing anything too stupid or help him see the bigger picture, question things from a different angle. That's part of the reason Sully liked her so much. Marissa had been a nice girl, but always seemed to want attention. And Chloe was never really the type of person to get into a more serious relationship, or an actual relationship for that matter.

"No. I kicked myself out." Nate slurred as he let Sully guided him to sit on the couch. Sully sighed and shook his head. A part of him wanted to smack the kid upside the head and tell him he was being an idiot for letting his pride get in the way. But he knew better than that. Right now, Nate needed to sleep off the alcohol so he could fully explain everything when it was easier to understand him. So for now, Sully was just going to keep an eye on the kid and call Elena when he was asleep.

"Well, hopefully you'll come to your senses when you wake up tomorrow. And maybe you won't drink as much after tonight. I'm sure you're gonna have one hell of a hang-over." Sully grunted as he tossed a large blanket on top of Nate.

"Why do I screw up everything good in my life, Sully?" Nate mumbled.

Sully paused. Well, how the hell was he suppose to answer that? It's not like Nate really chose to make things complicated for himself. Most of the time, the cards he would get dealt just landed him in those situations. But this thing with Elena… this time around, it could have all been Nate. That was another thing Sully hoped that didn't happen. If the whole reason Nate was now on his couch was because of him, then he might have to push through this one, no matter how hard it would be.

"Just get some sleep, Kid." Sully instructed. There was no way in hell he was going to try and give Nate advice at one in the morning. And he would four different kinds of stupid if he tried giving advice to _anybody_ while they were drunk. And Nate was the type of drunk who had trouble remembering things the next day. The kid made a noise of protest, or could have been his response muffled by the couch cushions, and Sully just ruffled the kid's hair before letting out another sigh. He could tell tomorrow was going to be a long day.

"Wait…!" Nate mumbled, "Just a sec." He dug a hand into one of his pockets and pulled something out and forced something into Sully's hand. "I don't wanna lose it, or do something stupid. I know I'm gonna. You'll help keep it safe, yeah?"

Sully looked down at his hand and almost wished he hadn't. He stared at Nate's wedding band. It felt like it weighed more than it did sitting in his palm. He had held onto to the same ring just a little over six months ago; he still could remember handing it over to the kid like it was yesterday. Nate had been so nervous, anxious, excited that day. Sully looked down at Nate, now thoroughly passed out and softly snoring off the alcohol in his system. He wondered if it was a smart idea for him to be the one to hold on to something this important. He could always give it to Elena; she would probably be the better person to keep it from getting lost. Sully quickly walked into another room and pulled out his phone, hitting the speed-dial for her number. "Come on, sweet-heart. Pick up."

After the sixth or seventh ring, he got a very tired 'hello'.

"Hey, it's me."

_"Sully! Is Nate there with you?"_

A relieved smile found its way onto his face at her words. She didn't sound angry (thankfully), just tired and concerned. "Yeah. He's passed out on the couch at the moment. Drank like the world was ending tomorrow."

She gave a sigh of relief. _"He's okay though?"_

"He'll be fine save for the hang-over that he'll be getting tomorrow."

_"That's good. That's good.."_

Silence fell between them as Sully steeled himself for his next question. "What happened, Elena? The two of you have fought before but it's never been enough to make the Kid drink like no tomorrow." He heard her sigh and the grip around Nate's wedding band tightened.

_"I…uh…I… I tried to talk Nate out of this job you guys are getting ready to do."_ She answered quietly. Sully resisted the urge to smack his head. No wonder Nate was upset.

"You know he's gonna be okay, right? We all are. I mean, any job is risky. Why would this one be any different?" As soon as the words left his mouth he wished he could take them back. That was probably something Elena didn't need to hear right now.

_"I know. I know… But is it so selfish of me to want him to come along with me with one of my assignments?"_

She didn't sound angry, but she sound like she was trying to keep from crying. Sully wished she felt angry still. She probably was when she and Nate were having at it, but it didn't take an idiot to realize that she was most likely upset. This was something the kid was gonna have to fix on his own. And Sully wished it wasn't because he knew that it was going to take a long time for Nate to do so.

_"You'll take care of him, Sully. Won't you? You and I both know he how easily he can lose sight of some things when he gets in too deep."_ Elena asked quietly.

The older man looked down at the wedding band in his hand. He couldn't ask Elena to hold onto it. That would be cruel. She would think that Nate had given up on their marriage and Sully knew the kid hadn't. Nate wouldn't have asked him to keep a hold of something so important if he had.

"I always do, Elena. What kind of partner would I be if I didn't?" Sully heard her give a humorless laugh before thanking him. "You know that I'm a phone call away if you need someone to talk to." He offered.

_"I know, Sully. Thanks."_ She sighed, and they exchanged their goodbyes and he ended the call.

Sully sighed and shook his head as he safely tucked Nate's ring in a cigar box. He wished he was better at the emotional stuff, that he could actually help Elena and Nate work through this, but he couldn't. All he could do was watch from the sidelines and hope for the best.

* * *

><p>Nate woke up feeling like he banged his head against something one too many times. He told himself that he was never drinking again as he assessed his surroundings. Relief and dread filling him as he realized he was on Sully's couch. How many drinks did he kick back last night to land himself on the couch? He tried to remember but decided that it didn't matter when his brain started reminding him why he had drank so heavily the night before.<p>

And suddenly he felt like an ass. How could have said those things to her? There was probably no amount of groveling that he could now to convince her to forgive him. He hoped that there was, that he could convince her how truly sorry he was and how terrible he felt. But Nate knew he had probably screwed it all up and that it be a countless number of months before she would forgive him. He sighed as he sat up. He had to start thinking of a way to both apologize and explain to her how important this was to him. …And how important it was that she didn't get mixed up into this. He knew it was a childish fear that she might get hurt again, injured like she did in Shambhala. But Nate couldn't help it. It was hypocritical of him. He knew Elena worried about him when he went alone on a job just as much as he worried about her when she accompanied him. But every time they got into a firefight or a shootout, memories of a broken and bloodied Elena filled his head; her cold hands barely grasping his warmer ones as Chloe drove them back to the village, the sight of her laying in bed so pale and lifeless… He couldn't go through that again. It would be too much.

His fingers started to move to fiddled with his wedding band, when he felt something off. Nate looked down at his left hand and immediately panicked. His wedding ring… it wasn't there. He sat there frozen, staring where the ring should be. He didn't…he didn't lose it did he? Nate sprang up, ignoring the way his head and body protested the sudden movement, and checked his pockets. Panic began to spread further as desperation began to kick in. He checked the blanket, around and under the couch cushions, he even moved the whole couch to see if it had rolled underneath it. But no ring, not even a speck of silver. How did this happen? He clearly remembered tugging the thing off and shoving it into his pocket. He couldn't have lost it. He just couldn't. How could he even show his face to his wife without wedding band? Suddenly, for the first time since he had found it, he hated the ring around his neck. Completely and utterly despised it. His body moved on its own as he sat back down on the cushion-less couch. He buried his face in his hands. He wanted this to be a very bad dream, a nightmare of epic proportions. Nate wanted to wake up and be in bed next to Elena and tell her he would go to Yemen with her.

"Everything okay, Kid?"

Nate looked up and saw Sully standing in front of him with coffee and a box full of doughnuts. Oh god, how was he going to tell _Sully_ that he lost his wedding ring? His mentor, partner, best friend, father had been so proud of him when he got married to Elena? The man who stood witness to their little courthouse wedding?

He couldn't.

"Yeah… everything…" Nate took in a shaky breath, "Everything…It's nothing to worry about."

Sully just nodded and handed him a coffee and the box of doughnuts. Nate couldn't eat any of it.


	34. In the Dark of the Night & Winter Chores

**In the Dark of the Night – or – Fears**

Nate couldn't sleep. His mind was in over drive as he stared at the dark ceiling of the new master bedroom. Now that all the rooms were painted, the last of the furniture moved in, and, most importantly, the _baby's_ room was done, his mind started filling with doubt again. He was happy, ecstatic, that he and Elena were going to have a baby but he wondered if he would be the type of father this child would need, or even want. His childhood defiantly wasn't ideal. What little memories he had of his biological parents weren't exactly filled with sunshine and rainbows. His parents had always been dressed like there was some big type of corporate business meeting just around the corner. He didn't remember his mother really holding him or giving any real affection. And his father wasn't really around, even after his mother had committed suicide. And then he had been given up, passed around from foster home to foster home, from orphanage to orphanage until he left. The only positive memories Nate seemed to have revolved around a tall, elderly man and while he was always well-dressed, the man always had a warm smile on his face. Nate didn't remember if this was a neighbor, or acquaintance of his biological parents, he just remembered the man as warm person. When he was younger, moving between 'homes', a small part of him had entertained the possibility that the old man was a family member and that he was searching for him. But that idea had died quickly as he remembered how _old_ the man was in his memories seemed to be. Nate would be shocked if the man was still alive when he had run into Sully all those years ago.

He sighed, slowly sitting up. He hoped that he hadn't disturbed Elena too much… Nate ran a hand through his hair. There was no way he could raise a child. All the cards were stacked against him. They had to be. He knew he would never be like the 'average' father he saw around town, never be the type of dad who could teach his kid a sport or something useful. All of Nate's talents revolved on getting by with little to nothing, shooting a gun, getting shot at, and everything that Sully taught him about the treasure hunting business that both had retired (quit) from. He glanced over at Elena's sleeping form. What had exactly had driven his mother to such a point that she thought death was the only escape? Would Elena fall into that thought process? He hoped not. He had nearly lost her once, he didn't want to go through it again (he wasn't kidding when he told her that in Yemen). In his head, he could hear Sully telling him to not bottle this up. To tell Elena. Nate wasn't sure if he wanted to. All he ever told Elena was that he had never really had a relationship with his parents. Maybe he should have after they officially found out she was pregnant. But that opportunity had past and Nate doubted that there would ever truly be an ideal time to talk to his wife about his fears, his…parents. Another sigh left him as he began to try to think of a way to talk to Elena, not realizing that she was slowly waking up.

"Nate…?" she murmured tiredly, causing him to jump slightly.

"Sorry. Did I wake you?" He asked as he turned back towards her. Elena gave him a sleepy smile and shook her head in the negative, gently guiding him towards her. Nate didn't pause as he leaned down and gently kissed her, both of them humming in contentment.

"I'm just more curious as to why you're up." She said, a light laugh colouring her voice. "There's nothing really to worry about now. Everything's here and we'll have that ultrasound tomorrow. We may even be able to find if it's a boy or a girl!"

God, he disliked (but equally loved) how easily Elena read him some days. It was like a he was large print, picture book to her. But he smiled as he thought about the possibility finding out the gender of their baby.

"Nate? What is it?"

He gnawed on his lower lip a little. "Nothing. Just… a little anxious, you know?" He finally said after a long silence. With the look that she was giving Nate, she didn't buy it. He ran a hand through his hair as he sat up, Elena following him.

She wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing herself against his back. "Whatever it is, it's enough to keep you awake." Elena murmured. She placed a kiss between his shoulder blades.

Nate heard her silent plea, to not keep her in the dark, that he wasn't alone. He placed his hands over hers and took comfort in her closeness. Her hold tightened and his resolve to tell her about his biological parents became stronger. He gazed at her from over his shoulder. He took a deep breath as Elena pulled back a little to look at him. And Nate slowly began telling her about his parents, cursing himself as he felt moister start to form in the corner of his eyes. But years of buried emotions were coming forward. Angry at his parents for not being the parents that he needed, sadness over his mother's death, feeling that he wasn't good enough for his father and the feeling of betrayal when his father gave her up, the sense of lost as he went from place to place. As Nate finished telling his wife about his biological parents and what little he remembered of them, he found himself expressing his fears. The anxiety he felt, worry that he would be like his biological father, worry that she would become like his biological mother…

And Elena listened to him. She didn't try and tell him that everything would be okay, that maybe there was a reason for his parents' actions. Didn't tell him that his fears were silly and that he shouldn't worry about it. She just listened, didn't say a word and held him. At some point Elena had made her way into his lap, a hand running through his hair in silent comfort. And when Nate began to trail off, trying to fight back the tears, she held him tighter and placed a light kiss on the crook of his neck, silently telling him it was okay. So he gave in and held onto Elena tightly, burying his face into her small shoulder and finding comfort in her constant presence. Nate wasn't sure what time it was when he found himself in a calmer, more at peace state of mind. He just felt better.

"Sorry. I've kept you up." He murmured tiredly.

She gave him a gentle smile before placing a kiss on his cheek. "That's okay. I'm just glad you were able to tell me what's been bothering you."

Nate returned her smile, yawning as he muttered out a 'thanks'. He heard Elena give out a small laugh before guiding him to lie down. "Come on tough guy. Let's get some sleep."

He nodded, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her as close as he could. He smiled as she returned his embrace and sleep found both of them quickly.

* * *

><p><strong>Winter Chores – or – A Puppy, Kids, and the Obvious <strong>

Both kids laughed and cashed after the small puppy they had found as he practically hopped like a rabbit through the deep snow. If it weren't for the puppy's dark-coloured nose and eyes, the animal would be perfectly camouflaged. That and the neon blue leash hooked onto its collar. Nate just shook his head as he went back to shoveling his section of the drive-way. He wondered if he could still find a way to get rid of the dog. But he knew better. Alex and Sophie had gotten very attached to the dog, ended up naming it Snow and gotten Elena on board with keeping him. It seemed like Nate was the only one who didn't want a dog. He had always been more of a cat person to begin with and years of sneaking onto private property (it was called breaking and entering only when you were caught) had more or less turned him off of dogs, even small ones.

It wouldn't have been that bad if the mutt hadn't decided that he was going to do everything in his power to bother Nate at every turn. And sure enough, Snow started bounding over towards him. Elena was already laughing, noticing the pattern that Nate and Snow had found for themselves after six months.

_I should have seen this coming. Kids find dog, bring dog home. Wife takes dog to vet, find out shelter is full. Volunteer to foster until a possible owner turns up. No one claims dog, continue to foster. Kids fall in love with dog. Elena falls in love with dog. Keep dog._

He groaned as Snow started jumping and rolling around his feet, nipping at his ankles. "Go bother Elena! Why don't you ever go for her?!" Nate growled as he tried to use his snow shovel to move the dog away. He may not like the pup, but he wasn't going to try and hurt him.

"I feed him!" Elena laughed.

"So what am I? It's not like I do anything to make him want to annoy me!" Nate snapped.

"You act like he's gonna bite off your arm! He's only five months old, Nate!" she kept laughing. He would have said something else if it hadn't been for a snowball hitting him on the shoulder. Both adults looked over at their children, who were giggling and laughing like mad.

"Is that how you two wanna play?" Nate said calmly, scooping up some snow in the shovel. Alex and Sophie quickly started making some snowballs, almost ignoring how their father was slowly approaching them. Alex was the first to notice, but it was too late. Nate hurled the snow at the pair who shrieked in surprise and protest. He tossed the shovel aside and grabbed both of them, laughing as they gave half-hearted shouts of protest. Elena laughed as Snow started bounding up to them, barking – well more like yipping – all the way.

She abandoned her snow shovel as well, making a large snowball. After-all, the kids would never be able to take down their father on their own. She aimed and fired, hitting Nate right between the shoulder blades. He whipped around, Sophie laughing and Alex waving his fist and feet wildly.

"Traitor!" he yelled before giving a startled cry as Snow started jumping around him. "No! Bad dog! Bad!"

Both kids were able broke free of their father's hold as he tried to get Snow away from him and Elena waved her children over. Elena had the two of them making snowballs in a heartbeat and they wasted no time in putting the snowballs into good use. She laughed even harder as Nate tried to retaliate. Apparently a small dog, two small children, and his wife in the open were too much for Mr. Tough Guy to handle. As always, Alex got brave and decided to charge Nate. He went for the legs and after a few moments of Nate trying to keep his balance, they both fell to the ground.

"Mom! C'mon!" Sophie shouted as she grabbed her mother's hand and led her over to where Nate and Alex were rolling around. Snow still yipping away happily and rolling around. Sophie was quick to scoop up some snow and throw it at Nate and Alex. Elena didn't hesitate to follow her daughter's example.

"Mutiny! Mutiny, I tell ya! Mutiny!" Nate cried out as his family laughed, but he was smiling too. Bursts of laughter leaving him every once and a while as he tried to 'fight' them off.

Fifteen minutes later, Nate was heavily covered in snow and Alex and Sophie discovered that Snow would chase after snowballs. This discovery gave both children a new form of entertainment and allowed Nate and Elena to finish shoveling the driveway.

"I still can't believe you can take down an entire city filled with mercenaries but you can't handle to kids and a puppy." Elena chuckled as she started laying down rock-salt on the cleared pavement.

"Well, they're my kids! It only makes sense they inherited some of my amazing skills." Nate said smugly. She just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"And what did they get from me?" she asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Nate chuckled as he grabbed her and pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her waist, "Your ability to distract me."

They both smiled at one another, Elena blushing slightly from the comment. Of course, their romantic moment was interrupted by a dog and a round of snowballs.

* * *

><p><em>And there we go! More fluff and some feels thrown in there! And its much longer this time! I am so proud of myself.<br>I do believe that Nate would be more of a cat person, by the way._

_For those of you who read_ From the Bar_, I will be trying to update before the month is done. I need to finish writing up the rough, type it up, and then send it off to my handsome editor. It's been taking so long thanks to work. I work in retail and it's been a nightmare for the past two, two and an half weeks._

_As always, I can't wait to see your reviews!  
>And I do try to reply to all them!<br>I hoped you all enjoyed!  
><em>


	35. Alex Reads a Book and Camping Trip

_I apologize for the long wait! I'm not dead! I promise!  
>I fell ill in January (fun), had to finish two costumes for a convention I went to (double fun), had to finish a slide show for a panel I had to host at the convention (triple fun), organize a Maid Cafe (quadrible fun), and then I went to the convention in March! Then I came home, discovered I caught something when I was there. So I stayed home for another couple days. I've been pretty busy.<br>_

_I guess.  
>So a quick note, in the first section I'm referencing one of my favorite Uncharted fan fictions called<em> Won't Let Her Go _which is by _Tarshearma._ It's in my favorites and I highly recommend it._

* * *

><p><strong>Alex Reads a Book – or – Asking Questions<strong>

Alex frowned, a small noise of annoyance left him as he tried to see if there were anymore pages only to find it was just a list of references and a small encyclopedia-like section. After reading all three books, Alex was still having a hard time truly believing that the side-story of Desmond and Lucy's relationship was actually his parents' story. When he was a child, he could believe it a bit more. Sure he got the _extremely_ watered-down version when he was a kid, but now the (slightly) unedited version was hard to believe. So Alex had confronted his parents and had asked them for the real story.

"You've had the real story since you were two, Alex. If we've left anything out is because we don't remember it or it involves us and a bed." His father had said. It was answer that didn't satisfy Alex.

There was no way his parents had gone to mythical cities and blown up said mythical cities. And it seemed so strange to even consider that his father had participated in multiple criminal activities… and most likely had quite an arrest record in multiple countries. If the questionable past of his father was true, what sort of voodoo magic did he do to convince his mother to marry him? Because what sensible woman (and sensible was one of the many ways Alex would describe his mother) would marry a crook? It just seemed too much like a Disney movie or a sappy romance novel. They had to be pulling his leg.

Alex wandered downstairs, hoping that both of his parents would be home. The only parent he found though was his father in his study. He paused at the doorway, looking around the small room. Three of the four walls were covered in pictures, drawings, even papers that he and his sister had done over the years. Alex was certain that his father had even more in the boxes stacked in the corners. He looked over at his father who was half-heartedly typing away at his computer.

"Dad?" Alex said, softly knocking on the door frame. "You got a minute?"

Nate looked up from whatever he was doing and smiled. "Always do." He turned off the monitor and pulled out the smaller swivel chair for Alex. "I take it you finished."

Alex nodded, taking the offered seat. "And I've got a _lot_ of questions."

"I don't doubt it." Nate chuckled. "So fire away."

"What kind of voodoo magic did you use on Mom?"

Nate stared at his son in surprise and there was a long pause before he started laughing. "You know, I thought you were going to ask if your mom and I actually found those cities! Or if Mom is actually that bad of a driver!"

"I'm serious Dad." Alex frowned, "Did you… were you…?"

Nate's chuckling died down as he realized what his son was asking. "I haven't done a lot of things that I'm proud of. Trust me, being in that line of work is never clean."

"So everything that you wrote? You actually broke into museums? And fight your way through mercenary armies?"

"Don't forget spending time in foreign jail cells." Nate added with a humorless chuckle.

Alex nodded. "Then how did you and Mom get together? I mean, you didn't sound like the type to…"

"Settle down? Be in a serious relationship? I know. But trust me, everything Desmond and Lucy went through is pretty much what me and your mom went through. Sure there's a couple of things I had to change, but those things were minor. And there were some things that I couldn't write."

"And what couldn't you write?"

"Well, there are some, um… _private_ moments that your mother would have killed me if I let them get published. And then there are some things I'd rather not remember." He fell silent. It took Alex a minute or two to realize what his father was most likely talking about.

"You mean… Mom… she nearly…?"

Nate didn't answer right away, his face turning solemn. "Elena… your mom more or less gave me a heart-attack that day. Trust me, it's something you don't forget."

He went silent again and Alex debated if he should press for more information. It was obviously something that his father found difficult to talk about. And Alex wouldn't lie, it was hard for him to even think about his mother in such a state.

"But, how did she survive?" Alex asked quietly.

His father's gaze became distant and unfocused as he thought back to that day. Alex suddenly wished that he didn't ask about that day. He was about to apologize and change the subject to another thing that was bothering him when he was reading the books when Nate finally spoke.

"You remember, what the tree sap did? How it kept those guardians alive for so long? How it healed Lazarevic's scar?" Alex nodded, not really sure what his father was getting at. "I gave some to your mother. It bought her enough time to get back to Tenzin's village and to the doctor there."

"Then why didn't you put that in?"

"It's… it's hard for me to think back on. It's a day I'd rather forget. So you can imagine that I had an equally hard time writing everything that happened that day."

"So… the train wreck… That happened too?" Alex watched as his father gave another humorless chuckle.

"Yeah. That too."

"So you nearly died, too." Alex said quietly in disbelief. The information was hard to swallow. His father had always been untouchable, unbeatable. The strongest man that he ever knew, but to know that his father had come so close to death had shaken Alex to his core. His parents seemed to have left that bit out when he was a child, and then played it down as he got older.

Nate nodded and sighed. "That happened too."

"But why would Aunt Chloe side with people like that?"

"It's… complicated Alex. When you're in that line of work, you can't really pick and choose your clients. You take what you can and if there's someone else after what you're after, then you better work fast."

Alex slowly nodded in understanding. He gnawed on his lower lip as he tried to figure out how to ask his next burning question. After a few moments, Alex decided just to go for it. "So… You and Aunt Chloe…?"

Nate straightened in his chair and looked away from his son. "Yeah…" It was the first time Alex had seen his father almost bashful. Or at least, in his most recent memories. "That, uhm-" Nate let out a cough, "-that was a long time ago. Before your mom and I got back together and then got married."

Alex couldn't help but laugh at that.

* * *

><p><strong>Camping Trip <strong>

Nate and Elena were barely aware of the birds chirping and all the other general sounds that wild animals made in the morning. The pair shifted closer to one another as they ignored the world outside their tent. It was only moments later when someone in their camp site started to scream bloody murder. They both frowned at the noise. Elena buried her face into Nate's chest as he pulled one of the pillows over his head. It wasn't any of the kids, thank god.

"Who the hell is that?" Nate groaned.

"I don't know. Do you hear a bear?" Elena answered.

"No."

"Then I don't care."

Nate let out a grunt of agreement as the two of them went back to sleep. Years of adventuring in less-than-ideal locations and raising two kids had taught them how to get sleep whenever and wherever they could. So they ignored the screams for help that didn't come from the kids in their camp site and fell back to sleep.

* * *

><p>Matthew von Allmen-Bree was not having a good morning. Camping wasn't really his thing to begin with, but somehow his son and Alex's parents talked him into joining their camping trip. So here he was, trying to get out of his tent because there was something in there that shouldn't be there. Matthew called out for his son a couple of times. Joel would know what to do, probably.<p>

* * *

><p>Alex and Joel groaned as they heard the screaming. Both teens knew who it was and just grabbed the earplugs they had brought along for such an occasion. They ducked further into their respective sleeping bags, trying to block out the almost non-existant early morning sunlight and the screams.<p>

_At least he made it till morning._ Both of them thought as they tried to go back to sleep.

* * *

><p>Victoria slowly sat up as she heard Mr. Allmen-Bree's screams echo through the camp. She looked over at Sophie, Casey, and Robin. Sophie and Casey slept through the noise while Robin had only briefly lifted up her head before rejoining her friends in blissful sleep. Victoria moaned before pulling her the hood of her hoodie over her face and fell back into her pillow. Joel wasn't kidding when he said his father wasn't an outdoors man. She briefly wondered if her parents would be the ones to solve this problem. Victoria knew the elder Drakes would do nothing.<p>

If there was one thing Victoria could tell, it was that this was going to be one long graduation trip.

* * *

><p>Tabitha Evardeer was not happy, and neither was Orlando Evardeer. While they were used to waking up in the early hours of the morning, they were not expecting to be woken by screaming. Not on this vacation. They poked their heads out of their tent, trying to determine what was happening. There wasn't any ruckus coming from the tents that the children were in. Tabitha watched as the small dog strained at his tether and started barking. Well, the dog knew probably knew what was going on. Her husband just grumbled and pulled on a jacket before stepping out of the tent.<p>

"What on earth are you doing, Orlando?" Tabitha asked.

"Something." He growled as he walked towards the screaming tent.

She just sighed and went back into the tent, sharing the same thought as her daughter.

* * *

><p>It had been a young squirrel that had found its way into Matthew's tent. To say the man was embarrassed was probably an understatement. But the group of teenagers didn't really care. They just collected their share of breakfast and broke off into their own groups. The parents were more or less forced to sit together in slight awkwardness. Matthew did his best to avoid talking about the morning's events, Orlando looked tired and Tabitha wasn't enjoying the taste of her coffee. Nate and Elena seemed to be the only ones who were comfortable out in the 'great outdoors'.<p>

"So, everyone going to be ready to go hike in a few?" Elena called out to the kids. She got the usual uncommitted responses from the teens. Nate just chuckled and roped the other parents into getting ready for the day's hike. A hike that would take most of the day.

* * *

><p>Victoria and Robin clung to the chain that was bolted into the rock face, each of them barely inching their way forward. Both Nate and Alex were doing their best to coax them up the trail. Sophie was at the top of the Angel's Landing, cheering Victoria and Robin on. The rest of the group was either in front of them or with Sophie.<p>

"I-I-" Victoria began to stuttered as she looked down again, seeing the lower part of the trail look like a zig-zag scribble in the dirt. The action had only made Victoria's newly discovered fear of heights became even greater.

"Come on. It's just a little further and then we can take a break." Nate encouraged. "You made it this far! You can make it to the top!"

Robin just clutched the chain a little tighter and Victoria felt her legs begin to tremble. Robin's eyes started to water. Alex was now having mixed feelings about taking up the rear. "Just take the biggest step forward that you can. The chain isn't going to go anywhere!"

Both girls regarded him for a moment and Victoria took his advice, Robin hesitantly following the older girl. Sophie gave out a loud cheer as they did so and yelled at them to keep going and do it again. Their rest of their group joined Sophie cheering them on. Three large steps later, Nate, Alex, Victoria, and Robin were finally at the top of Angel's Landing.

"This is incredible." Victoria breathed as she looked over the view.

"And you made it all the way." Tabitha said proudly.

"Yeah! Now we just need to go down!" Joel called out, earning a slap upside the head from his father. The comment though made Victoria pale a little though. Her father just gave her an encouraging pat on the back and soon they were headed down the trail. Thankfully there was less drama this time around.

* * *

><p><em>Angel's Landing is an actual hiking trail! It's in Zion National Park, which is located in Utah.<br>And let me tell y'all, the trail actually has chains bolted into the rock face that you HAVE to hold onto to continue up the trail. Don't believe me? Google it._

_As always, I can't wait to read your reviews!_


	36. Mystery

**A Mystery – or – Why do Babies Cry?**

Nathan wondered exactly how his break ended up like this. He had gone to the couch for a break from writing and then next he knew Elena had come in with a crying Alex. She tried fed him, changed him, and tried rocking him, but the three-month-old would have none of it. So Nate, who had just been reading a book, was tasked with trying to help Alex calm down while Elena called her mother. It had almost frightened Nate how panicked and close to tears Elena had been when she handed their child off to him that he hadn't thought twice when held out his arms.

Thankfully, Alex had begun to quiet down. He was still fussy, but fussy Nate could deal with a lot better than unknown reasons for crying. So here he was, lying on the couch with Alex laying on top on him and gently patting his tiny back. Nate glanced over in the general direction of the kitchen. He could hear Elena desperately speak to her mother on the other end. Hopefully Coraline would have some idea of what needed to be done. Alex started making noises discomfort again and Nate wanted to sigh.

"Come on, Alex. It'll be alright." He said softly. It seemed to help a little. "You know, I kind of wish you could tell us what's wrong. But I know there's not much that can be done about that right now."

Nate looked up as he heard footsteps. Elena sighed and gave him a half-hearted smile as she came up to the couch. "Let me see him." She said, gently picking up Alex. She confused Nate by sticking her finger in Alex's mouth.

"What your mom say?" Nate asked softly.

"She thinks he might be teething." She replied, "And I think she might be right."

"Isn't this a little early? I mean, he just turned three months-"

"-Last week. I know, I know. Mom was expecting Alex might start teething around four months like me and my cousins." Elena let out a small chuckle as sat down on the couch. "You wouldn't happen to know if you were an early teether, would you?"

Nate laughed quietly, "Sorry. All I know is I have all of my vaccinations." He took a look at Alex, "Can I?"

Elena just smiled and shook her head before handing Alex back. "You know you don't always have to ask." Nate just shrugged as he settled back down with Alex lying on top of his chest. "So how are things going with the final book?"

"Okay. Should be ready for the last round of editing; I just hope that Fran doesn't chew me out over the ending." He heard her snort and he smiled, knowing what she was thinking about. "Looks like he's finally asleep."

"I'd be surprised if he was still awake. He was making such a huge fuss in the store, I just couldn't get any shopping done. I'd rather try and see what's wrong in the privacy of my own home than in store." Elena sighed. She looked so tired and worn down.

"Hey. Look on the bright side. At least you have your mom to call for things like this. And you've got an extra set of willing hands." Nate said, "Imagine what it would be like if the both of us didn't have any parents to call."

She laughed a little at that, "Dear lord, we'd be doomed."

"We'd defently be relying on Google right now." Nate added.

"And a lot more frazzled. I doubt you'd be as calm you are now if we didn't have my parents to call." Elena chuckled.

They fell quiet for a several long moments, enjoying the rare silence. Alex, without a doubt, had turned everything upside down the moment he came home. Little things the couple hadn't expected. Like the laundry never seeming to be done or how Nate suddenly had to learn how to make something more than pasta. Though they had underestimated how much they would miss sleep. Lord only knows how much they both missed a full night's sleep. Elena more so than Nate. Yes Nate was doing his best to be helpful during the nights when Alex started crying, but with the lack of mammary glands…

"You can go get some sleep, you know." Nate whispered.

Elena's gaze snapped to him and she tried to shake off the tiredness. He could see her glance down at Alex.

"We'll be fine. You've earned at least a good few months worth of naps." He encouraged. "I'll get ya when he's hungry or time for big people food. Whichever comes first."

She finally nodded and got off the couch, kissing her husband and placing a soft kiss on the top of Alex's head. Nate watched her walk off towards the bedroom, feeling relieved that Elena would finally be getting some much needed rest. He looked back at Alex.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me for now, buddy." Nate whispered, a soft smile on his face.


	37. Family Time and No Cookies in the Jar

**Family Time**

Elena had forgotten that picking out a name was hard. She rubbed her rounding belly, sighing as she leaned back in her seat. She wanted to be the one to pick out her daughter's name, though Nate had come up with some good ideas like Katarina. He had even suggested some names from a few video games they both liked. A small chuckle left her as she watched Alex play with his toys, obviously acting out one of the many adventures of his parents. Though Elena wondered where the ninjas came from, or where her son learned about ninjas. At least he was keeping himself occupied. She worried about what she would do when she entered the feet swelling and aching stage of pregnancy. Elena's stomach growled and she sighed. This was still new for her; she hadn't been constantly hungry when she was pregnant with Alex.

Alex soon tugged on her pants, "Momma, I'm hungry."

Elena smiled, "I was just thinking the same thing myself. How do you feel about sandwiches?" She laughed at his eager nod and took hold of his hand. "So what kind of sandwich do you want?"

"Peanut butter!" he cried, "Can we watch a movie?"

Another chuckle escaped her as she nodded, "Sure."

Three sandwiches later Alex was tucked up against Elena's side, one of the blankets from the back of the couch wrapped around him. He eagerly watched the dancing mushrooms on the screen, quietly giggling every now and then. She smiled with him. _Fantasia_ had always been a favorite of hers when she was a child, and she had practically run straight to the theater when the second one came out when she was a teen.

"What we watching?" Nate said as he came out of hiding. Alex was quick to shush him before returning his attention to the movie. Nate laughed lightly before moving onto the kitchen.

Elena smiled as one of her favorite sections started (which also signaled the end of the Nutcracker suite portion). It grew a little more when Nate joined them on the couch with a large sandwich of his own. She felt Alex move and glanced down to see Alex tug on his father's arm to draw him closer. Nate of course started to play dumb and offered up his sandwich, and then started trying to lie on top of his son, which then led to a very quick tickle fight. Eventually, Alex found his way into Nate's lap just before the second half of the film.

Alex, at some point during the middle of the movie, had fallen asleep in his parents' laps. Neither of them minded of course. Elena had her head resting against Nate's shoulder, a hand resting on her belly, the other gently stroking Alex's hair while Nate had an arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"He's gonna miss his favorite part." Nate commented softly as 'The Dance of the Hours' began.

"You wake him up, you get to deal with a cranky toddler later, not me." Elena replied, giving him a mock-glare. Nate chuckled and nodded, watching as ostriches pranced around on the television.

Elena smiled and then felt something. A soft gasp left her when she realized what it was. Nate looked over at her, wondering what she was gasping about. He watched as the hand on her belly splayed out, his brain quickly making the connection. He gently placed a hand next to hers' and felt himself smile as he felt a tiny push against his palm. It wasn't a practically strong kick, but it was firm. Nate let out a quiet laugh as Elena pushed back slightly.

"I was wondering when she would let us know she was there." Elena whispered.

He nodded, "You remember what your folks said. Not all pregnancies go the same way."

"Still couldn't help but worry. It's been six months, and Alex started kicking barely a week after five."

"Maybe she's been trying to be nice and not kick the crap out of your insides like he did?" Nate offered, making his wife laugh. They both grew quiet as they felt another kick.

"Whatever the reason, it's always good to feel them move about." She sighed. "Does that sound weird?"

He shook his head. He had been a little worried too, about whether something had happened since the last ultrasound or not. But the firm, tiny movements were enough to comfort his fears. "Have you come up with any names that you like?"

Elena frowned and shook her head. "Nothing's suck out for me and I refuse to give her a cheesy name."

"You'll find something that you'll like. If all else fails, you can just come up with the name in the delivery room. I'm sure that's what all the celebrity mom's do."

"Under the influence of those fabulous pain killers, no doubt."

* * *

><p><strong>There Ain't Cookies in That Cookie Jar<strong>

"That's a nice piece." Alex commented on a small jar as he looked at the items on the mantel in Joel's house.

Joel smiled slightly, if a little sad. "That's mom." He replied. Alex stiffened a little, not really sure what to say. He didn't want to offended or make his best friend upset. Joel seemed to notice his friend's hesitation. "She really liked pottery."

"How long ago…?"

"I was pretty young. But I remember Mom being covered in clay all the time. I remember when me and Dad went to her will reading, that she may want her ashes 'spread across Middle Earth'."

Alex stared at Joel in disbelief. "Spread across Middle Earth?"

Joel laughed, "Yup, she was a Tolkien fan. But she said in case that wasn't possible, to find the next closest thing to it. But Dad and my grandma couldn't come to an agreement I think. Something over the cost to get to New Zealand. I just remember saying that I want to be able to say talk to her when I could."

"So she'll always be able to keep an eye on you and be a part of everything?" Alex commented.

"More or less. Of course, when the _Lord of the Rings _and _Hobbit_ movies were re-released, Grandma had the 'brilliant' idea of going down to New Zealand and spreading her ashes there. And since Grandma couldn't travel at the time and Dad had to go down there for a business trip anyway, I was dragged along to say good-bye to Mom once and for all. But of course when we got there, we just couldn't do it. So Mom's going to stay on the mantel until Dad passes away. That's the plan at least." Joel said.

"I take it your grandma didn't like that." Alex said.

"Grandma doesn't know."

They stared at one another, and it took Alex for a moment to realize that his friend was serious. "What do you do when she comes over?"

"We hide Mom in the Tardis cookie jar on top of the fridge." Joel answered, "We never really use it, and Grandma just thinks it's part of our _Doctor Who_ collection that Mom started so she doesn't mess with it."

"In the Tardis?"

"Because it's bigger on the inside." He said with a wry smile. There was silence for a few moments before both teens started laughing.

"I'm sure she's happy with that."

"I hope so." Joel muttered, still smiling.

"Do you… do you talk to her sometimes?"

"Every once in awhile. I like to think she happy being able to be here for me and dad."

Alex nodded in agreement, both of them giving a small smile and moment of silence to the small urn of ashes on the mantel before they began working on their newest assignment for their English class.

* * *

><p><em>So fun story! I discovered that my own dad was suppose to spread my late grandfather's ashes into the ocean, but he didn't. So now they sit on top the fridge. So we hide him in the Tardis cookie jar we have when we have relatives over. He was the one who introduced my dad to Doctor Who when he was a kid, and when we first got the Tardis cookie jar, he always made jokes that there was extra cookies hiding in the Tardis's library. So now whenever we place him inside, we tend to go "Don't worry Grandpa! It's bigger on the inside!"<br>_

_But in less slightly depressing news! I have a tumblr account for news and stuff related to my fanfictions! The url is kirika-hime fanfictions . tumblr . com  
>Be sure to remove the spaces! I'll most likely use it to answer questions (for those of you who wish to stay annyonmous and such) and it'll probably become a place where I post my sectionschapter ideas that didn't make the cut. I hope you check it out!  
><em>

_So until next time! And as always, thank for the reviews and I look forward to new ones!_


	38. Million to One and A Wedding Reception

_So thank you for everyone's patience and such! I've been very busy as of late and therefore, have been unable to give any attention to this chapter. I was able to post a very short drabble on my tumblr page! For those of you interested in it, the url is _kirika-hime fanfiction . tumblr . com_ (be sure to remove spaces). I do reblog fandom things on there (including Assassin's Creed and some other things). I also plan on taking writing requests/challenges through there! So be sure to follow! That, and answering questions you don't feel comfortable asking here on fan fiction. If there's enough interest, on Friday (10 January) I'll do a live blogging thing. I'll take questions and requests and respond to them as quickly as I can._

_Please enjoy this chapter! I look forward to hearing from all of you._

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><p><strong>A Million to One Shot<strong>

Nate felt dread slowly filled him as he spotted the plane. Marlowe's men were almost done loading the supplies. He heard Elena scaling the wall, working her way up to the roof. He went over and held out his hand, silently offering his help. She gave him a small smile and took his hand. Nate pulled her up and let her catch her breath. They both stared at the plane. Thankfully, it didn't appear that there were more guards on the runway. Now it was a make or break moment. He felt Elena's grip tighten. He hadn't realized that they were still holding each other's hands.

"We gotta hurry. It looks like they're almost finished." Elena said softly.

He nodded and gently let go of her hand. Determination was set on his face as he jumped to the latter. He would get on, save Sully, and get him the hell out of there. Forget about Ubar. He should have listened to Elena all those months ago. Sully was right. He had gotten his pride mixed up in all of this. But before he got on that plane, he had to find a way to keep Elena safe. She had thankfully been able to avoid injuries. At least he could leave with that on his conscious. He dropped down from the latter, Elena close behind him.

"Alright, looks like it's a straight shot from here." He said as they approached the high fence. He heard Elena agree as he looked around, and that's when he saw it. The jeep at the other end. "I'll uh… climb to the top and then I'll help you over. Keep me covered."

He started climbing, hoping that she wouldn't hate him for leaving her behind. But Nate had already endangered too many people he cared about, and now Sully was in the lion's den. As soon as he was over the top, he jumped down.

Elena turned around. "Hey, what are you-" she began with confusion in her voice, "What are you doing?!"

"Elena listen-"

"Argh! Damnit! I knew you would try something like this!" she started to climb and Nate felt panic surge through him.

"No! Don't! Please." They stared at one another. He was sure that his fear for her was written all over his face. Slowly she climbed back down, her face softening from anger to worry.

"Let's be honest. This is a million to one shot. When I almost lost you before-"

She quickly covered his hands with hers, interrupting him. "You're not going to-"

"-I just can't do that again." He said as evenly as he could. But from the way that Elena looked at him, Nate was positive that she already knew what he was thinking of. Their last adventure into an ancient city had nearly gotten her killed. That was something that neither of them had forgotten. "So take that jeep and get the hell out of here, alright?"

She looked at the vehicle. Nate could see the internal debate in her eyes. He knew that she wanted to stay with him. Help him find Sully… But Nate knew his track record with crazy plans, and they hadn't been too great as of late. He threaded his fingers with Elena's. "While you can?"

Elena looked back at him, and he could see the pain he was causing her. He just hoped that she understood, even if it took some time for her to do so. It was hypocritical, he knew it. But one of the most stable people in his life was in the hands of some mad woman. And when he thought about Elena in that situation, coupled with memories of Shambhala… It was almost too much for him to bare.

Gently, she patted his hand. "You haven't got much time." she said as she pulled away. Again they stared at one another. He knew both of them had more that they wanted to say, but the plane wouldn't wait. Not for much longer. "Go."

She headed towards the jeep, and Nate watched her. He hoped that this wouldn't be the last memory he had of his wife. He hadn't even been able to hug her. She looked back him for a moment before getting into the jeep. He really hoped that this wasn't his last moment with his wife. Nate turned away as he heard the vehicle start up. He took a deep breath and turned his direction to the plane. First things first, get on the plane…

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><p><strong>A Wedding Reception – or – When Can We Leave?<strong>

Nate and Elena were a little amazed at how much noise twenty-odd people could create. But the reception was in a small venue, so the noise really couldn't escape anywhere. And it didn't help that a number of Elena's co-workers were showing up for the reception. The couple watched as Sully, Chloe, and Charlie caught up with some of Nate's old associates. Elena's family were busy chatting away with one another over things the couple could care less about. Already they had had aunts and grandmas ask about a non-existent baby. Nate and Elena learned later on from Charlie that most of the Fisher family thought Elena was pregnant.

Really, the two just wanted to go on their vacation. Away from in-laws and co-workers. While the vow-renewal was nice, they just really, REALLY wanted time to themselves. So Nate and Elena sat at their table. Elena had abandoned her heels moments after their dance. Nate had taken off his neck tie and jacket.

"Wasn't supposed to be a vow renewal?" Elena asked as she leaned into her husband's side.

He shrugged, wrapping an arm around her. "It was, but I don't think anyone got the memo."

She laughed lightly, wrapping her arms around his torso. "Would it be bad of us to leave soon? I mean, I love my family and all, and your friends are nice, but…"

"It'll be nice to _finally_ have a moment to ourselves for once?" Nate finished. Elena let out another laugh. "Another ten, fifteen minutes and we'll slip away?"

She nodded and quickly relocated their shoes. They watched as everyone made fools of themselves on the makeshift dance floor, relatives and friends laugh and start arguments, and tried to count the number of trips to the bar people made. It helped to pass the time quickly and soon the couple was rushing to put on their discarded articles of clothing.

"Where's the fire, you two?" Sully chuckled as he approached them.

Nate and Elena froze and looked at one another. "We're… uh…" Nate attempted. Elena scanned the crowd behind Sully, hoping that none of her relatives were noticing their attempt to escape.

Sully just chuckled. "Don't worry, Kid. I'll cover for the two of ya. You've earned a _long_ vacation."

"Oh, thank you, Sully!" Elena said with a sigh of relief, giving him a hug.

"It's not a problem, sweetheart. I'll tell your parents that your flight was earlier than you remembered." Sully said.

Nate smiled at the older man, "You're a life saver." The two embraced.

"Anything for you, Kid." Sully replied softly. "Now make your escape before someone else comes over here!"

The couple laughed and Nate quickly finished pulling on his jacket. "Thanks again, Sully!" they shouted as they quickly made their way to the employee exit. They practically ran all the way to their car, laughing as they caught the confused looks of the hotel staff.


	39. The Beginning and Memories

_Look! A new chapter! I know it took forever and I do apologise for that! I didn't mean for it to take so long. Let me just thanks to everyone who favourited and added this story to their watch lists during this long, slightly unexpected hiatus. So with that, please enjoy this new chapter. I look forward to reading everyone's reviews and reactions!  
><em>_Also, please stop by my tumblr page! I will be trying to add previews and sections that didn't make the cut. I'm also going to be launching a few contests in a few in weeks or so! The url is _kirika-hime fanfiction . tumblr . com_ Be sure to remove the spaces! Again, I'm looking forward to everyone's reviews and reactions.  
>Enjoy.<br>_

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><p><strong>The Beginning<strong>

Elena couldn't believe her eyes. Just when she was beginning to think that Nathan Drake was trying to make a fool out of her, they had found Sir Francis Drake's coffin. She was quick to grab her camera, eagerly waiting for Drake to remove the lifting equipment from the coffin. It didn't take long and she didn't waste a moment.

"I'm here off the cost of Panama, where we've just recovered what we believe to be the coffin of legendary explorer Sir Francis Drake, who was buried at sea over four hundred years ago." Elena's excitement easily found its' way into her voice. Which was quickly and almost diminished as Drake came over with a crow bar, and very unceremoniously, began to work the top off the coffin. "Are you sure you wanna be defiling your ancestor's remains like that?"

The man laughed, "You make it sound so dirty! Besides, I thought you didn't believe me." Drake let out a grunt as he struggled with the lid.

Elena looked back to the small screen on her camera, making sure that she got as much of the coffin as she could. "Well, I did do my research. And apparently, Francis Drake didn't have any children." She said matter-of-factly.

"Well, history can be wrong, you know. For example-" he grunted, "You can't defile an empty coffin." And with those words, Drake shoved the lid off the coffin revealing that it was filled with sand and rocks.

"What the hell –?!" Elena stared in disbelief. There were so many questions going through her head. Why did Francis Drake fake his death? Where the hell did he go? She watched as Drake picked up a small, rusted metal box and opened it.

"You devil." He exclaimed with a laugh.

"What is it? C'mon, hold it up!" She said, gesturing with the camera. Drake's devilish smile disappeared the moment he saw her trying to get a shot of whatever it was that was in his hand.

Quickly, he redirected the camera's lens away from him. "No, no, no – no way. The deal was for a coffin, that's it."

"Wait a minute," Elena cried indignantly, "if my show hadn't funded this expedition, you wouldn'tve-"

"- Hey, hey… You got your story lady." Drake said, holding up his hands and turning and walking away from her. She watched as he stuffed whatever it was into his knapsack. Did he really think that he could just brush her off? There was no way in hell he could have done this without her show's funding!

"Look Mr. Drake, you signed a contract!" Elena began, getting a laugh from Drake. " I have a right to see every single thing that-"

But before Elena could get into any of the details of the contract out, Drake's face went from annoyed to troubled. "Whoa, whoa… Could you…hold that thought?" She watched him with bit of confusion and her own worry. This behavior hadn't really been seen from him before. What exactly was going on?

"Sully? Uh, we got some trouble. Hurry it up?" Drake said into the radio before heading back towards her direction.

Oh, this was bad news, wasn't it? Or maybe it was a sign that she should have skipped on this? She scurried over to the crates where the radio was and placed her camera down. "Okay, okay. What's going on?" Elena asked, following Drake.

"Uh… Pirates!" he said with a nervous laugh.

"Pirates?!" She couldn't believe it. He had to be joking. Right?

"Yeah, the modern kind." Drake explained. She watched as he grabbed a small, white storage case with a caution sticker on the side. She heard him open it, part of her not wanting to know what was in there. "They don't take prisoners. At least…not male prisoners." He glanced over to her before turning back the case.

That did nothing to settle her nerves. "Wait, what are you talking about?" Though she said that, Elena had a feeling that she know what he was talking about. She looked over to see what Drake kept glancing out. Four boats smaller than theirs was heading towards them at an alarming rate. "Uh, sh-shouldn't we call the authorities or something?"

"That'd be a great idea, but we don't exactly have a permit to be here." Drake explained, trying to play it off as it was nothing.

Elena, however, was not pleased. "What?" she spat out.

"Yeah, so unless you wanna end up in a Panamanian jail, we should probably handle this ourselves." Drake finished, brushing off her heated 'what' and going back to loading guns. Yeah, guns. He had been prepared for this? And he didn't tell her?

"Wha-what's worse?" she asked, trying to hope that there was still a chance to call the cops.

"You obviously haven't been in a Panamanian jail." Drake stated. Dread filled her. The only reason Nathan Drake would say that is because he _had_ been in a Panamanian jail. Just who the hell was this guy? "Do you know how to use one of these?" he asked, holding out a handgun to her.

"Uh…" she stared at it for a moment, mulling everything over. She wasn't a stranger to guns. Occasionally, when she was in a more dangerous area for her show, the guide would give her one for emergencies. But she had never had to shoot one. Until now it seemed. "…Yeah. It's like a camera…" Gingerly, Elena took the weapon from his hand. "…You just point and shoot, right?"

"Good girl." He grabbed the other gun before turning back to her. "Here we go."

Drake gave her a smile, probably thinking that it would help calm her nerves. But Elena was watching the boats finally reach them. She froze up for a long moment. A large part of her was hoping this was a horrible dream. A small, fearful 'Oh' left her and then shots began to fire. Quickly she ducked into cover behind the crates.

"How the hell did they find us out here?" she shouted to Drake. Elena looked up from her cover, ducking back when a round of gun fire was sent her direction. She jumped as Drake suddenly appeared next to her.

"These guys have been tailing me for weeks. I thought I lost them." He explained, reloading his gun. His brow furrowed in concentration, his face far more serious than she had ever seen before. Elena had to admit that he was…pretty handsome when she really thought about it. Gunfire from the pirates (she still couldn't believe it) broke her chain of thought. Now wasn't the time to be ogling her partner. If he could be called that.

"So what you do to piss them off?" she asked as Drake popped up and shot back.

"Less talking! More shooting!" he shouted as he shot a man between the eyes without blinking.

Elena wanted to comment on the shot, but more and more people kept appearing. This was not how she was expecting this expedition to go. In fact this was the first time an expedition had gone so south. But still, she shot back, tried to stay in cover and stay close to Drake. Everything was going okay. Elena thought she could see the light at the end of the tunnel. All she had to do was keep covering Nate's back until this Sully character showed up. And then something exploded. Her eyes rang at the noise.

"Oh my, god! Drake- That one's got some kind of rocket launcher!" she cried. Another rocket whizzed by, hitting the steering wheel cabin.

"Whoa! Okay, that's not good." Drake dived into cover across from her. They gave each other nervous, questioning looks. Each of them asking each other the same question. _What now?_ Once again, dread filled her again. She was going to die on this stupid rust-bucket, wasn't she? And then she heard something.

"What's that?" she asked, looking around. It didn't sound like any of the boats. Suddenly, a bi-plane flew low and overhead.

"All right, Sully!" Drake cheered as they watched the plane fly low over the boat with the rocket launcher, tipping it over. Elena joined in Drake's cheering. The Calvary was here. She wasn't dying on this boat. But their joy was short lived. The boat began exploding – _exploding_- all around them.

"Oh… I don't think I'm getting my security deposit back." Elena groaned.

* * *

><p><strong>Memories<strong>

If someone were to ask Nate why he kept nearly everything that his children had made over the years and why most of it was on display, he'd just shrug. Not because he didn't know, but he just thought the answer was obvious. Nathan Drake loved his kids and when it came to them, he did everything he could to be a supportive father. And to him, being a supportive father meant looking at everything that they did, placing it up on the walls of his study/work room. And he loved everything his son and daughter created. Sure a number of the art work, stories, and elementary writing projects were now in filing boxes waiting for Elena to start her scrapbooks, but he loved everything in those boxes. And every once in a while, Nate would look through them. And today was one of those days.

He had been having a really long day. A terrible writer's block the whole day with little to no inspiration. So instead of staring at his computer screen for several more long hours, Nate got out of the faux leather chair, grabbed one of the filing boxes, and began looking through it. Sophie's old drawings greeted him. Pictures with bright colours, princesses and princes, animals, her parents and brother and relatives, Nate and Elena's adventures… It made him smile. He could remember the days where tiny Sophie would sit on the floor, drawing and colouring to her heart's content. Grabbing paper from his printer when she had used all of hers', which occasionally lead to Nate sending drafts with princesses on the back of several pages. The princesses had changed into magical girls after her babysitter introduced her to, what was it?... _Sailor Moon Crystal_, wasn't it? Not he minded. What he remembered from that show was young women/girls kicking butt and saving the day, and that was alright with him. At least his little girl had positive female characters to look up to, letting her know she could still like cute things and fight the bad guys.

Nate dug further into the box to unearth some of Sophie's old writing exercises/projects from her early school days. Stories about how she liked making pasta with him, how her mom was the best at reading bed time stories, and how her big brother was great big brother even if he was kind of mean sometimes. The deeper he went, the more skilled Sophie's writing and drawing became. The occasional photograph appeared. Photos of Sophie and Alex at the zoo, dressed up in costumes for Halloween, birthday pictures. He put those aside, making a mental note to get them properly framed. He grabbed another box, this one filled with Alex's work. Similar pictures met him. Drawings of family members, the adventures his parents had been on, animals… There wasn't much difference, in a way. A few more superheroes, a little less fairytale element, and a lot of sharks. Nate chuckled at some of the little stories that his son wrote. He'd had forgotten some of more historically accurate things his son wrote in elementary school around Thanksgiving. Those parent teacher meetings were the best. Nate saw nothing wrong with his son knowing history accurately, and he remembered Elena just sighing and telling the teacher that there wasn't much that she could do.

Slowly, Nate went through each box. He read each story, each paper, taking in each drawing. There were little things that he had almost forgotten. Like how both kids went through a huge _Princess Bride_ stage. Or how Alex had loved everything Studio Ghibli (he still did, if Nate remembered correctly). How Sophie's handmade Father's Day cards used to have little 'one-free-hug' coupons. Each thing made him smile, several of them made him laugh. In a way, it made him yearn for those days again. Where his kids asked for more sweets and junk food, and their questions were innocent (or innocent in nature). He could start to pinpoint where Alex started developing a deep love for history and the ocean. And he saw how Sophie's writing and drawing abilities grew over the years. It made Nate proud of his kids. It also made him feel old.

The hours passed by without Nate's notice. Drawings and papers surrounded him, making the floor a complete mess. That's how Elena found him. "What's all this?"

He looked up from an essay that Alex had written his first year in middle school before looking around the room. He had no idea that he had made such a mess. Nate looked back at his wife and gave an embarrassed laugh. "Just me going down memory lane." He pushed some of the empty boxes and patted the newly revealed space. "Wanna join?"

Elena smiled and carefully made her way over. "What prompted this?" she asked as she sat down.

"Writer's block. I thought that time away from the computer would help." He explained.

"So going through all the kids' old things was what came to mind?"

Nate shrugged. "More or less. Oh! Here!" He reached over her to grab a tiny stack of papers and handed them to her. "Remember this?"

Elena looked over it, smiling, an occasional chuckle or laugh leaving her. "This is the paper that Alex had to write over the history of Thanksgiving! And had to read it to the rest of the class! This was when he was in what, third, fourth grade?"

He nodded, "Yeah. Remember that parent-teacher conference?"

"God, that man looked like we struck him across the face when we told him that thought that nothing was wrong with Alex's paper."

"Apparently we were supposed to be supportive in teaching kids that the early days of America were sunshine and rainbows with the occasional thundercloud."

They both laughed and started looking through more of the papers, talking and laughing about their kids' antics. They found more photos, more drawings, more short stories and essays. Each one reminded them of the story behind it, or how teachers or friends and family reacted to it. They would have gone for the rest of the day had it not been for Snow whining to be let back in.

"So you gonna start that scrapbook sometime soon?" Nathan asked as he started to carefully and lovingly put each piece of paper back in their receptive homes.

"Maybe when they're going to graduate." Elena said with a light laugh.

"High school or college?"


End file.
